Andy Serkis Will Rise as CGI Ape Once More
In a seven-figure deal that will keep Andy Serkis in spandex and ping pong balls for a bit longer, Fox has signed Serkis to reprise his motion-capture role as Caesar in a sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes. That film grossed over $450 million worldwide, obviously making it a top candidate for hasty sequelization, but the issue until now had been that only the writers and director Rupert Wyatt had been locked for a sequel. Now that studio heads have seen the behind-the-scenes featurette in which it becomes evident that Serkis's motion-captured acting was integral to the CGI ape's performance, they've made the actor a priority in returning to the franchise--so much so that human star James Franco hasn't even yet been approached to return to his giant headset. Not only that, 20th Century Fox is also reportedly ready to wage an Oscar campaign for Serkis in the hopes of earning him a first-of-its-kind nomination for a sensor-based performance rendered in chimp. I, for one, am hopeful for their cause. Not often enough does the Best Performance in a Leading Role category include a clip of a CGI simian leering at a sleeping couple.
