Production has begun on Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and now we have the set photos to prove it.  Dawn is set 15 years after Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which means a new cast of humans led by Keri Russell, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, and Kodi Smit-McPhee.  The one constant is Andy Serkis, reprising his lead role as Caesar the ape.  Judy Greer is the major addition to the motion-capture crew, playing a potential love interest for Caesar.

The story jumps back and forth between Caesar’s new kingdom and a small human colony in San Francisco.  Caesar fights to maintain dominance over his subjects; the colony fights to survive.  Directed by Matt Reeves (Let Me In), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens May 23, 2014.  Check out the set photos featuring Serkis, Russell, Clarke, and a band of motion-capture apes after the jump.

Every year at Comic-Con, I always see a huge line at the Funko/Pop! booth for their newest 4″ vinyl figures.  While I’m not as familiar with vinyl toys as I am action figures, I do know a lot of people collect them and they make a lot of convention exclusives.  Over the past few years, they’ve produced over 300 different characters ranging from Disney to Darth Vader.

At this year’s Toy Fair, Funko/Pop! showed off some of their upcoming figures as well as some Wacky Wobblers for Iron Man 3, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, DC and Marvel superheros, Ace Ventura, Star Wars, Planet of the Apes, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to check them out.

We previously reported that James Franco might reprise his role as Will in the upcoming Rise of the Planet of the Apes sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.  However, that was when Rise director Rupert Wyatt was still attached to the project.  Now that Wyatt has left and Matt Reeves (Let Me In) has come on board, it looks like Franco won’t be needed.

Hit the jump for more.  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is due out May 23, 2014.

Director Rupert Wyatt delivered a surprise hit with last summer’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  The franchise had been in cold storage since the atrocious Tim Burton remake but Fox decided to give the Apes another chance, and it paid off wonderfully (even though the film was flat-out robbed of the Best Visual Effects Oscar).  Although James Franco was the name on the marquee, the prequel made Caesar (Andy Serkis) the real star and Weta’s special effects geniuses helped bring the character to life.

Last November, we reported that 20th Century Fox was planning multiple sequels to the successful blockbuster with Wyatt and Serkis slated to return.  Steve recently interviewed the studio’s CEO, Tom Rothman, and learned that they’re hoping to get the next movie in theaters by summer 2014.  Hit the jump for more.

If you visit the site quite frequently, you’re probably aware of the awesomeness that is Mondo. The collectible art boutique arm of the Alamo Drafthouse is responsible for some of the coolest movie posters on the planet, and they’re gearing up to release five Planet of the Apes prints in collaboration with Sideshow Collectibles. The posters were created to commemorate the Alamo Drafthouse “Day of the Apes” event last May, in which all five Apes films were screened as a marathon on glorious 35mm. The prints have debuted on five different sites today, and we’re happy to exclusively bring you Mondo’s poster for the fifth and final entry in the original Apes franchise, Battle for the Planet of the Apes.

Hit the jump to see the fantastic exclusive poster, check out the other prints, and to find out how these lovely prints can be yours.

Looks like summer 2011 had one more blockbuster left after all.  Cowboys and Aliens may have been a late-July disappointment but, so far, Fox’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes is performing more like a June release than your typical August afterthought.  Surpassing all early projections, the sci-fi vehicle took in an estimated $54 million from 3,648 locations for an easy number one at the US box office.

Looks like the marketing got it right: this weekend the apes will rise.  Fox’s modern entry in the classic Planet of the Apes franchise – Rise of the Planet of the Apes – opened on Friday with $19.75 million from 3,648 locations.  That puts the prequel /remake /reboot on track for a three day estimate of between $45 and $50 million.  Not only is that significantly above early projections for the film, but it is also well over what last weekend’s higher-budgeted Cowboys and Aliens pulled in for its (just barely) number one debut over The Smurfs.  After missing out on that top spot, the family film went on to beat the smurf out of Cowboys and Aliens all week long; including Friday where The Smurfs placed second.  Though statistically tied for third place, the weekend’s second new release is a big disappointment no matter how you slice it.  The R-rated comedy The Change-Up opened with an estimated $4.7 million from 2,913 locations and is not expected to make even the modest mid-teens that Universal projected.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

New clips from Rise of the Planet of the Apes have gone online.  I liked the earlier clip I saw of Caesar (Andy Serkis) protecting his human father figure (John Lithgow) but now I want to go into the film not spoiling any more of it for myself.  However, if you still need to be convinced about pre-damned-and-dirty apes then hit the jump to check out the 5 clips.  The film stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, Tom Felton, and Brian Cox.  Rise of the Planet of the Apes opens August 5th.

Continuing our coverage of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, 20th Century Fox has sent over high resolution images of the concept art that was shown during yesterday’s webcast.  While the trailer that premiered earlier today definitely focuses on the action, I’m hoping the story is solid and it’s more than just some cool action set pieces.  After reading Germain’s set report, I’m very optimistic.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo, and Andy Serkis as the ape Caesar.  The film opens August 5th.  Hit the jump for the concept art.

Andy Serkis has been cast as Ceasar, the main ape in Fox’s upcoming Planet of the Apes prequel Rise of the Apes, in a performance capture role. The news was broke in the form of a tweet from the studio saying “This is cool. Gollum reteams with Weta. Andy Serkis to star as Ceaser in “Rise of the Apes” portraying chimp who leads the simian revolt.” Serkis is best known for his performance capture portrayal of Gollum in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. As referenced in the tweet, Serkis’ role of Gollum was made possible by Jackson’s effect house Weta Digital, who will also work on Apes. The film will co-star James Franco, Freida Pinto and John Lithgow under the direction of Rupert Wyatt.

Serkis’ role of Ceasar won’t be his first primate role, as Serkis played King Kong through performance capture for Jackson’s 2005 remake. Serkis will next be seen in John Landis’ Burke and Hare (live-action) alongside Simon Pegg and in Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (performance capture). For more on Rise of the Apes continue reading. Rise of the Apes is expected to be released June 24, 2011.

John Lithgow and Freida Pinto have signed on to co-star in Rupert Wyatt’s upcoming Planet of the Apes prequel, Rise of the Apes.  The movie stars James Franco as a scientist who’s been working on a cure for Alzheimer’s and testing it on apes.  The potential cure causes the test subject “Caesar”  to evolve rapidly and Franco must protect him from the doctors who want to harm the animal.  Little does Franco know that trying to find a cure of Alzheimer’s and protecting a defenseless ape will lead to the destruction of human civilization.

According to Heat Vision,  “Lithgow will play Franco’s Alzheimer’s-stricken father. Pinto is the movie’s female lead, a primatologist.”  Filming begins this summer in British Columbia.  Rise of the Apes is slated to hit theaters on June 24, 2011.

With the Fox prequel Rise of the Apes (directed by Rupert Wyatt) getting ready to start filming this July, it looks like the production is looking for both principal actors and extras to star in the movie.  But before you get all excited that you can play an ape, as we’ve previously reported, Fox is using WETA for the Ape effects as they’re going CGI rather than men in suits.  Yeah, I don’t agree with the decision either.

But if you still want to be in the movie, you should know it’s filming at Mammoth Studios in Burnaby, BC and all around Vancouver.  The shoot is scheduled to go from July 5 – September 30 and the film is getting released June 24, 2011.  Hit the jump for more info:

James Franco will star in Rise of the Apes, the upcoming prequel to Planet of the Apes.  Earlier today, we reported that Franco had signed on to the comedy Ricky Stanicky.  According to Heat Vision, Franco will play a scientist who has been working on a cure for Alzheimer’s that is being tested on apes. The test subject named Caesar starts to evolve rapidly, and the scientist takes him home to live with him and protects him from cruel doctors.  It is unknown how the events of Rise of the Apes led to Planet of the Apes.  We also don’t know why the maniacs took out the Statue of Liberty.  It’s a perfectly good statue.

WETA is handling the digital effects and all of the apes in the film will be CG and (hopefully) photo-realistic.  Filming is set to begin this summer with director Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist) at the helm.  Rise of the Apes is slated for a June 24, 2011 release date.

Fox has scheduled a June 24^th 2011 release date for the Planet of the Apes prequel, Rise of the Apes.  This new release date means the film will open against Pixar’s Cars 2.

Written by Amanda Silver & Rick Jaffa (The Relic, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle) and directed by Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist), Rise of the Apes will tell the story of how “man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.”  THR also reports the heartbreaking news that WETA will be creating CGI apes instead of using costumed actors in make-up. I wish I could say that I was shocked.  More after the jump.

Artist “Hexagonall” has designed minimalist posters [via The Awesomer]  for all of Tim Burton’s movies, plus his short films Vincent, Frankenweenie, and The Adventures of Stainboy (although The Nightmare Before Christmas was actually directed by Henry Selick).  For those who don’t know “Hexagonall”, he/she’s the gent/lady who designed the Lost/Saul Bass mash-up back in March. If you like Tim Burton’s movies and minimalist artwork, hit the jump to check out these posters.  You can click here if you want to buy them.