RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES 2 (In Development))

• RISE OF THE PLANETOF THE APES AND THE HOBBIT

Given that Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes has been a Boxoffice, critic and fan success, its not reall a surprise that 20^thCentury Fox are preparing the sequel to the hit film. And now the company hasput one of the biggest pieces in place, signing Caesar himself, Andy Serkis, toa new deal.

Caesar on left, Andy Serkis on right

Though youmight think that the likes of James Franco and Freida Pinto would be top of thelist, Serkis is much more important than any of his co-stars, as his work asCaesar was so vital to the movie. Plus, given the way the story ended (spoileralert: the apes rose up!), there’s much more scope for following his adventureswithout worrying about the humans from the first film.

Fox is alsoreportedly working up a campaign to get him a well-deserved Oscar for his work.The reality is he can definitely get a nomination but we think that Hollywoodis just not ready as yet to let someone win based on a Motion Captureperformance.

Serkis wasone of the bigger players on the movie whose contract didn’t feature a sequeloption, so Fox have invested a beneficial amount to secure his services.Director Rupert Wyatt, on the other hand, did have such a clause in his deal,so we will probably see the director return to a franchise that he basicallyreinvented.

Nothing else hasapparently been set in motion, though writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver arealso signed for another outing. We’re guessing this one will come together asquickly as the studio can get things moving. Serkis will be a bit busy for awhile yet, though – despite having finished the acting side of his job on The Hobbit, he’s branched out intosecond unit directing and has been helping Peter Jackson get the film made.