While it looks like composer Michael Giacchino won’t be able to play around in the world of Star Wars, he’s nevertheless set to tackle another exciting and beloved film franchise.  J.J. Abrams’ longtime collaborator shared an image on Twitter of a monkey dressed up as a composer, saying it was the outfit he would wear while recording the score for the sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.  Matt Reeves—another longtime friend and collaborator of Abrams’—is helming the Apes pic, and Giacchino previously worked with Reeves on the director’s past two films, Let Me In and Cloverfield.

Giacchino is an incredibly gifted composer, and I can’t wait to hear what he puts together for the new Apes pic.  His past work is incredibly varied—from Star Trek to Up to Lost—so one assumes it’ll be something wholly different yet unsurprisingly fantastic.  His current slate includes Lana and Andy Wachowski’s sci-fi film Jupiter Ascending and director Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland.  Hit the jump to sample some of his work and to see his Tweet in full.

Production is currently underway in Canada on the sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and director Matt Reeves (Let Me In) has now shared the first official image from the set.  While we’ve previously seen Andy Serkis in his performance-capture gear for his work as lead ape Caesar, this image reveals that in the sequel (which takes place 15 years after the events of Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Caesar and his brethren have mastered the art of horseback riding.  It’s a nice nod to the original series of films, and I really can’t wait to see what the very talented Reeves brings to the new franchise.

Hit the jump to take a look at the image.  The film also stars Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, Gary Oldman, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirk Acevedo, Toby Kebbell, Enrique Murciano, and Judy Greer.  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens on May 23, 2014.

Though filming actually began in Vancouver and New Orleans quite a while ago, 20th Century Fox has unveiled a “start of production” press release for the sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.  Director Matt Reeves (Let Me In) takes the helm this time around, and while we previously knew that the film would take place 15 years after the first film and find Caesar (Andy Serkis) attempting to assert his dominance over the apes while a small human colony struggles to survive in San Francisco, an official synopsis has now been released:

“A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier.  They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth¹s dominant species.”

Additionally, Toby Kebbell (Wrath of the Titans) and Enrique Murciano (Traffic) have been added to a cast led by Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, Gary Oldman, Kodi Smit-MCPhee, Kirk Acevedo, and Judy Greer.  Hit the jump to read the full press release.  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens on May 23, 2014.

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.

Director Matt Reeves (Let Me In) has added yet another cast member to his sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, but this time it’s on the side of the apes.  Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) and Keri Russell are already set as the human leads in the follow-up, which takes place 15 years after the events of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but now Judy Greer (The Descendants) has been tapped to play the female ape lead opposite Andy Serkis’ Caesar.  Greer’s character, Cornelia, was briefly introduced in the first film as a potential love interest for Caesar, but it’s been expanded for the follow-up where Greer will handle the performance capture duties.  Hit the jump for more.

The cast for director Matt Reeves’ (Let Me In) upcoming sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes continues to fill out.  Jason Clarke was the first to join the project as the male lead earlier last month, and he was joined shortly thereafter by Gary Oldman and Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road) in the ensemble.  Now Variety reports that Keri Russell is joining the cast, presumably as the female lead.  The film takes place 15 years after the events of the first movie, and the story is said to be split between a small human colony struggling to survive alone in San Francisco and Caesar’s (Andy Serkis) attempt to maintain dominance over his kingdom.

No details are given regarding Russell’s role, but we know that Oldman is poised to play the leader of the human colony.  Russell has some history with Reeves, as she previously toplined the popular television series Felicity which was created and run by Reeves and J.J. Abrams. The actress is coming off a strong return to television with FX’s excellent 1980s Russian spy series The Americans and was most recently seen on the big screen in Dark Skies.

Matt Reeves’ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has added another lead in Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight Rises).  The Mark Bomback script takes place 15 years after the events of Rise of the Planet of the Apes and finds humanity all but wiped out by the race of super-intelligent apes.  Part of the story centers on a group of scientists in San Francisco who are mounting a resistance against their new oppressors while Caesar (Andy Serkis) struggles to maintain dominance over his kingdom.  It’s looking like Oldman will play Dreyfus, the leader of a human colony in the sequel, due out May 23, 2014.  Hit the jump for more.

Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In) has been cast as a lead in Matt Reeves’ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.  When the sequel added Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) just a few days ago, we learned that the plot would be set 15 years after Rise of the Planet of the Apes and involve  “the group of human scientists who are struggling to survive alone in San Francisco.”  We still don’t know exactly how Clarke and Smit-McPhee fit into the story, but they’re both solid additions.  Also featuring the return of Andy Serkis in his phenomenal role of Caesar, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is due out May 23, 2014.  Hit the jump for more.

The sequel to 2011’s pleasantly surprising Rise of the Planet of the Apes has found its star.  Though Dawn of the Planet of the Apes had a bit of a stumble in development as director Rupert Wyatt exited the film over creative differences, it appears that everything is now smoothly on track to begin production later this year under director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In).  In the film’s first bit of casting, Zero Dark Thirty star Jason Clarke has been tapped to star in the pic, which will take place 15 years after the events of Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  Hit the jump for more.

At the VES Awards last week, I was able to get a few minutes with Andy Serkis and Weta Digital’s Sr. Visual Effects Supervisor Joe Letteri.  During our red carpet interview we talked about the audience reaction to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the sequences that were the most challenging to get right, how far along they are on the sequels, and more.  In addition, Serkis talked about Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and they both talked about the perception of performance capture and why it seems to be overlooked by the Academy.   Hit the jump to watch.

Opening this weekend is director Steven Soderbergh’s psychological thriller Side Effects.  Written by Scott Z. Burns (Contagion, The Informant!), the film is about “a successful New York couple (Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum) whose world unravels when a new drug prescribed by Emily’s psychiatrist (Jude Law)—intended to treat anxiety—has unexpected side effects.”  The film also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones.

At the recent Los Angeles press junket, I landed an exclusive interview with Burns.  We talked about his feelings regarding Soderbergh’s retirement, how he originally wanted to direct Side Effects himself, changes to the script during development, his writing process, and much more.  In addition, I got updates on rumors he might be writing the new Blade Runner, what happened to The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and what it was about, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, David Fincher’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and more.  Hit the jump to either read or watch the interview.

Screenwriter Scott Z. Burns has been working on quite a few interesting projects over the past couple of years.  Director David Fincher enlisted the scribe to work on his big-budget remake of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Burns was also tapped to pen a draft of the Rise of the Planet of the Apes sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.  Steve recently sat down with the screenwriter to talk about his upcoming thriller Side Effects, and during the course of the conversation Burns talked about the status of both 20,000 Leagues and Apes, discussing why Rupert Wyatt dropped out of the director’s chair for the Apes sequel.  Hit the jump to read on.

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.

With Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opening this weekend, I recently got to interview some of the cast and filmmakers in New York City and everyday this week I’ll be posting an exclusive interview.  Up first is Andy Serkis.  If you’re not aware, not only did Serkis reprise the role of Gollum in The Hobbit, he was also the 2nd unit director on the entire Hobbit trilogy!

During the interview Serkis talked about his reaction to seeing The Hobbit for the first time, how he collaborated with Jackson as a director, how technology has changed the way he brought Gollum to life since Lord of the Rings, and more.  In addition, with Matt Reeves directing the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) next year, we talked about how excited he is to play Caesar again and whether he has been talking to Reeves about the role.  Hit the jump to watch.

If all goes according to plan, 2015 will be one ridiculous year for movies.  Currently, The Avengers 2, Justice League, Ant-Man, Star Wars: Episode VII, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 are all tentatively slated for 2015 release dates.  Now Fox is throwing one more highly anticipated title into the pile, as their Fantastic Four reboot now has a March 6, 2015 release date.  Titled The Fantastic Four, the film has Chronicle director Josh Trank at the helm and Jeremy Slater penning the screenplay.  Plot details are practically non-existent at the moment, but with two promising gents creatively spearheading the project, there’s certainly hope for a fun take on the comic book property that will help us all put Tim Story‘s overly cheesy films out of our memory for good.

Additionally, Fox has announced that a number of their upcoming films will be post-converted to 3D.  Hit the jump for more.