Dawn of the Planet of the Apes might find itself James Franco-less. In an interview with MTV, the Rise of the Planet of the Apes star has said that he might not be in the movie’s sequel at all, or if he is, it might be in a very small role.
I’m OK with that. I don’t think anyone came out of the (surprisingly good) Rise of the Planet of the Apes, saying “Man, that James Franco did a good job.” I mean, he did. I think he did. I don’t really remember. The majority of my post-Rise thoughts were more along the lines of “Andy Serkis, YOU ARE A GIFT!”
Says Franco (I’ve hidden a vague potential spoiler referencing the plot of the movie back before Rise director Rupert Wyatt left and was replaced by Matt Reeves—don’t say I’m not looking out for you, spoilerphobes),
“A lot of the human characters that were in the first movie were dead in the sequel that Rupert was going to direct… But there was one scene, between Caesar and my character, maybe even just like on a video that was left behind. But then a lot of things happened, like [former Fox co-chairman] Tom Rothman who was a big part of the first movie, left. Now Rupert’s not a part of it so I don’t know. My guess is I won’t be in it. Nobody’s talked to me since Rupert left.”
Franco’s IMDB filmography lists four films he’s in that are either filming now or in pre-production, one of which he’s directing (an adaptation of William Faulkner‘s As I Lay Dying, because he’s James Franco and he just does whatever he wants at all times.) Plus Dawn is said to take place several years after humanity has been wiped out from the virus that showed up in Rise and, as Bleeding Cool notes, Franco just might not have aged enough.
Does that mean Tom Felton‘s delightfully douchey ape speciest won’t be returning either? Probably. His character sort of ran his course. (Plus, did he die at the end of Rise? I can’t remember.) But I can hope.
(via: Bleeding Cool)
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