In a piece of news that comes as no surprise, 20th Century Fox has locked in RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES star Andy Serkis, as well as director Rupert Wyatt, for at least one sequel, reports Deadline.com. The scribes of the first film, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, are also coming back – cuz why mess with a good thing?
If he wasn’t already a rich man, Serkis certainly is with this new deal. He’s allegedly getting a seven-figure payday for RISE 2, which is expected to be the first in a series of sequels to this past summer’s surprise blockbuster. There isn’t a scheduled start date, or even concept, for the follow-up, so don’t expect to see the apes again anytime soon. (Summer 2013, perhaps?)
Meanwhile, you can expect to see a serious push from Fox on Serkis’ behalf as Award Season commences. Sources tell Deadline.com that the studio plans to wage an Oscar campaign for Serkis (presumably in the Supporting Actor category), a first for a motion-capture performance. There’s no doubt that Serkis’ soulful portrayal of Caesar – with the help of WETA’s outstanding visual effects – was what primarily made RISE such a success, but it’ll be interesting to see if the Academy goes along with it.
And, in case you’re wondering, deals for the movie’s other stars, James Franco and Freida Pinto (pictured below), have not been reached yet. Obviously, Serkis was the priority.
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