Rise of the Apes scores it’s villain in Brian Cox

The last update we got on Rupert Wyatt’s PLANET OF THE APES prequel RISE OF THE APES came back at the end of June, when we learned that Andy Serkis had joined the project. Well here we are a couple weeks later with yet another APES casting announcement for you all to gnaw on!

According to the guys over at The Wrap, it seems Brian Cox is the latest to join the project. They’ve even got the goods on who Cox (right) will be playing! Apparently the actor will star as ‘ the villainous owner of a primate sanctuary who runs the facility without compassion for the animals that live there.’ Cox as a villain is always a positive in my book.

Set in present day San Francisco, the origin story deals with the aftermath of man’s experiments with genetic engineering that lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. A chimp named Caesar (Serkis) leads the uprising among the apes after having been raised by a father-and-son scientist duo.

Along with Cox and Serkis RISE OF THE APES also stars James Franco, Freida Pinto (below) and John Lithgow. Don Cheadle was also rumored to be along for the ride but that has yet to be confirmed. We’re sure to get a lot more RISE OF THE APES updates as we await it’s June 24, 2011 release date so be sure to keep it here for everything and anything we hear on the project!