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Planet of the Apes prequel Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a surprise hit, earning a surprising $481 million worldwide while becoming one of the most successful comic book movies of the summer. So it came as no surprise when 20th Century Fox decided to lock down actor Andy Serkis (who played the ape Caesar through motion-capture), co-producers and screenwriters Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa and director Rupert Wyatt for a sequel last month, and then admitted over two weeks ago that all a Rise sequel required was a "great script".
an army grows for the sequel >> Posted 12.16.11 by Ryan -
As summers go, Twentieth Century Fox had a pretty good one, releasing two hit comic book movie prequels with X-Men: First Class, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. While Fox hasn't made an official announcement that either will get sequels, the profit margin has made such announcements unnecessary.
More movement has been made on Rise — the more profitable of the two movies at $480 million worldwide — with Fox already securing actor Andy Serkis to reprise his role (in motion-capture) as the lead ape Caesar in the sequel. The studio is also exercising sequel contract options on Rise co-producers and screenwriters Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa and director Rupert Wyatt. As a result, Wyatt was forced to drop out of the true-life drama Londongrad, which examines the mysterious death of former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko.
more on the Rise and First Class sequels >> Posted 11.30.11 by Ryan -
Late last month, Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy) was reported to be the "front-runner" for the lead role in the live-action adaptation of Akira, and now he's officially landed the role.
THR reports that Hedlund is in negotiations to star as Kaneda, the heroic leader of the Capsule biker gang in the post-apocalyptic city of New Manhattan (replacing Neo-Tokyo in the classic Japanese manga series by Katsuhiro Otomo). Eventually, Kaneda has to fight his fellow gang member Tetsuo who takes over the rival Clowns biker gang once his telekinetic powers awaken.
While Hedlund is the only cast member who has accepted an offer, other cast members could follow. Gary Oldman and Helena Bonham Carter were offered the roles of The Colonel and Lady Miyako, respectively, at the end of last month, and, reportedly, Keira Knightley has also been approached for a role.
Serkis to play Caesar in Rise sequel; Emma Stone thinks He's F**king Perfect >> Posted 11.04.11 by Ryan -
Poor Eric Draven, will no one make your story? Again?
The reboot of The Crow continues its unlucky streak, which last saw star Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) exit the project due to scheduling conflicts, or after realizing that he had signed up for a reboot of The Crow that was cursed, whichever you believe.
The "reinvention" of The Crow has been in the works since 2008, when Stephen Norrington (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) was set to write and direct the movie. After working on several drafts of the screenplay, including one from musician/screenwriter Nick Cave, Norrington left the project in October 2010 after an unnamed star requested yet another new script.
more bad news for The Crow; good news for The Twilight Zone >> Posted 10.17.11 by Ryan -
Unlike Sony, which hired a screenwriter and announced a release date for the sequel to its Spider-Man franchise relaunch, The Amazing Spider-Man, eleven months before the first movie has even opened in theaters, 20th Century Fox is apparently taking a more cautious approach to its own franchise relaunch, Rise of the Planet of the Apes — despite solid opening weekend numbers and great reviews, Fox has yet to announce a sequel. But, if and when Fox does decide to pull the trigger on a sequel, director Rupert Wyatt will be ready. In an excerpt from a recent interview with BleedingCool, Wyatt revealed he has already given a lot of thought to a sequel and offered up several intriguing ideas for where the franchise could go now that the apes have risen.
what could the future hold for the apes? >> Posted 08.09.11 by BrentJS -
Part of Twentieth Century Fox's Comic-Con panel focused on the upcoming Planet of the Apes prequel, Rise of the Planet of the Apes. On hand were director Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist) and Andy Serkis, who portrays Caesar, the lead ape in the movie. Serkis played the character not in the iconic ape make-up of the Planet of the Apes movies that precede Rise, but by using motion-capture technology, something Serkis became familiar with playing Gollum in the The Lord of the Rings trilogy and by playing another (much larger) primate in King Kong. Serkis admitted (via The Guardian) that his friends wondered why he was choosing another "monkey" role.
Whenever I choose a role people say, "Why are you choosing another ape character? Why are you playing another monkey?"
I'll just chart the development of this character for you. He's a young, innocent soul who is brought into this world. He's brought up by human beings, nurtured, loved and cared for. At a certain point he realizes he's not the same as the human beings and he feels like a freak, he's treated like a Frankenstein's Monster. He's then taken away from his family and thrown into a hardcore prison for apes. He brings this disparate group of apes together and leads them to revolution. It's an amazing journey.
watch the clips, plus more from Serkis >> Posted 07.24.11 by Ryan -
Twentieth Century Fox recently aired two new TV spots for director Rupert Wyatt's (The Escapist) near-future prequel to the Planet of the Apes movie franchise, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and both spots have are now available for viewing online. The two spots are comprised of mostly the same, previously-released footage, but each contains brief snippets of new footage and the second one also reveals that Will Rodman (played by James Franco), the scientist who originally ignites the spark of intelligence in the chimpanzee Caesar (motion-capture by Andy Serkis of The Lord of the Rings trilogy), is also responsible for freeing Caesar, which ultimately leads to the ape-dominated future depicted in the early Apes movies.
watch the new tv spots >> Posted 07.06.11 by BrentJS -
The full-length theatrical trailer for director Rupert Wyatt's (The Escapist) new movie, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, debuted in theaters last Friday attached to X-Men: First Class and quickly made its way online. Now, MTV has posted online the first TV spot for the movie, which aired during the 2011 MTV Movie Awards. The TV spot is basically a condensed version of the theatrical trailer, but it does contain a few snippets of previously unseen footage of the first intelligent ape, chimpanzee Caesar (Andy Serkis of The Lord of the Rings trilogy providing the motion-capture acting), as well as a first look at Draco Malfoy Tom Felton's character.
watch the new TV spot >> Posted 06.09.11 by BrentJS -
The last Planet of the Apes movie was 1973's Battle for the Planet of the Apes (we're purposely forgetting the 2001 remake), but the upcoming Rise of the Planet of the Apes takes the story back to the beginning, with scientist Will Rodman's (James Franco) cure for Alzheimer's working perfectly on the ape test subject named Caesar (Andy Serkis) who ends up taking revenge on the lab, his lab captors and — and this is just a wild guess — the planet.
The first trailer for the prequel was released in April and partially explained the movie's story, but the latest trailer expands on the original and reveals more story details.But, according to director Rupert Wyatt, the story is half the battle, with the success of the prequel resting on New Zealand-based special effect house WETA, who worked on Avatar, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Rise's apes.
"We will succeed or fail based on how much people believe in our apes," Wyatt told USA Today. "But WETA is the best in the world, and once they sent us one shot, we knew we made the right decision."
watch the trailer >> Posted 06.03.11 by Ryan -
After just recently changing its title from Rise of the Apes to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the first trailer for director Rupert Wyatt's Planet of the Apes prequel has arrived online.
The trailer comes after the first footage of frequent motion capture actor Andy Serkis as intelligent ape Caesar was revealed. Created by Weta Digital, the New Zealand-based effects company that previously turned Serkis into Gollum in the The Lord of the Rings movies and as a much larger primate in King Kong (as well as creating the Na'vi for Avatar), Empire magazine witnessed Serkis' transformation into Caesar while visiting the Vancouver set of Rise. There, Serkis explained the difference between playing Kong and Caesar.
Kong was purely a gorilla, so I went all-out to to make that work and play the psychology and DNA of a pure gorilla. But this is much more mercurial and "shifting sands" in terms of who this creature is, because he's brought up with human beings, and then he's inherited this drug which has enhanced his intelligence, so you have to almost forget he's a chimp, really. We've been experimenting with treating him much more as a human being, really. It feels more like a human drama story.
Watch the trailer >> Posted 04.14.11 by Ryan