We already knew that James Franco probably wouldn’t be facing off against any damn dirty apes in Matt Reeves‘ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. And now we know who’ll be fulfilling the role of ostensible-lead-because-they’re-human-but-really-we-all-know-Andy-Serkis-is-the-star-here: Zero Dark Thirty‘s Jason Clarke.
Clarke got a lot of buzz for his excellent job playing a CIA agent/torture expert in Zero Dark Thirty, and he’s also shown up recently in John Hillcoat‘s Lawless, where he was quite memorable in a cast that included Tom Hardy, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, and Gary Oldman. That can’t be an easy thing to do. I was already excited about Dawn because Rise was great and I like Reeves’Â Cloverfield, so the addition of a quality up-and-coming actor like Clarke (OK, not exactly up-and-coming since he’s been acting for a while now, but you know what I mean) is only making me count down the days more.
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed an earlier rumor that Dawn will take place 15 years after Rise. The only additional information we have about the plot so far is pretty vague, namely that:
One focus is on the human scientists who are struggling to survive alone in San Francisco. Another aspect of the story is the struggle of intelligent ape Caesar, played by a returning Andy Serkis, to maintain dominance over his kingdom.
As it stands now the movie’s going to start shooting this Spring for a May 2014 release. Rise was such a pleasant surprise that I really, really don’t want Dawn to suck. Anyone wanna join an Internet prayer circle with me?
(via: The Hollywood Reporter)
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