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John Lithgow and Frieda Pinto have joined the cast of Rise of the Apes, 20th Century Fox’s prequel to the Planet of the Apes franchise, according to The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog.
Lithgow and Pinto join James Franco, who will play a scientist who is working on a cure for Alzheimer’s. When an ape named Caesar, one of his test subjects begins to evolve rapidly, he takes the ape home with him to protect him from further testing. Lithgow will play Franco’s father, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. Pinto will play a primatologist.
Unlike the original Planet of the Apes films and the Tim Burton remake of 2001, there will be no actors in ape make-up. This new film will have computer generated apes from Peter Jackson’s WETA Digital.
Shooting begins July 5 in British Columbia with Rupert Wyatt directing. Wyatt will be working from a script by Amanda Silver and Rick Jafra. Rise of the Apes is set to hit theaters June 24, 2011.
