None of this week’s new offerings were able to seize the top box office slots from a pair of overperforming holdovers on Friday.  The Help came in on top with $5.8 million, a mere 24% decline from last Friday.  The impressive hold bumped Rise of the Apes, champion of the last two Fridays, down to second with $4.7 million.  We finally get to the new movies in third place: Spy Kids: All the Time in the World opened to just $4.0 million from 3,295 locations; Conan the Barbarian dipped under the $4 million threshold for $3.7 million from 3,015 locations.  Fright Night rounds out the top five, earning $3.1 million from 3,114 locations.  Check back tomorrow for the weekend totals.

We’ve got a slew of monkey news for you today. A UK trailer and poster, as well as a batch of new images from Rise of the Planet of the Apes have been released. This international trailer looks to be the best one yet. I think it gets the tone just right, plus we get our first look at the apes standing up (next step, clothes). I still don’t think an Apes reboot is necessary, but I think a sequel to Rise, wherein we see the apes begin to build society anew, would be much more interesting than this film. Nevertheless, the effects on the apes keep looking better and better each time we see a new trailer. The new images released give us a great look at some of WETA Digital’s work.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer, poster, and images. Starring James Franco, Andy Serkis, Tom Felton, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, and Freida Pinto, Rise of the Planet of the Apes hits theaters on August 5th.

Fox has released the first trailer for Rupert Wyatt’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  I’m a bit disappointed by the take I’m seeing it but I’ll admit that an Apes movie is an incredibly tough sell.  The movie looks far more action-oriented and I was hoping for a moral story involving James Franco’s character and the main ape Caesar (played by Andy Serkis using motion capture)  that seems only hinted at in this teaser.  Finally, I don’t think people really care where their special effects come from and while I know that WETA is a fine effects company, people didn’t walk away from Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes remake thinking “Wow!  ILM really did a bang-up job with those effects!”  I know people respond to action, but having an ape towering over your bed and watching you sleep just looks silly.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and poster.  The film also stars, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, and Tom Felton.  Rise of the Planet of the Apes opens August 5th.

At 5:30pm (PDT), WETA Digital will be offering a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming prequel, Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  Director Rupert Wyatt will join WETA as they provide viewers with a look at the rendering and creation of the apes, as well as exclusive footage from the film.

Hit the jump to check out the livestream.  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.

With the first trailer for Rise of the Planet of the Apes set to be released on Thursday, Fox has released a first look at one of the film’s digital apes created by WETA.  There’s not much motion in this brief four-second clip, but I do like the level of detail and it’s a nice reminder that we’ve come a long way since Tim Burton’s atrocious 2001 remake.  I’m also encouraged that Fox recently rescheduled the flick out of a crowded Thanksgiving weekend and into the summer movie season.

Hit the jump to check out the clip, the official logo, and to learn more about a live-chat with WETA.  The film stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, and Andy Serkis.  Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist) will direct from a script by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver.  Rise of the Planet of the Apes is due out on August 5th.

In unnecessary title news, 20^th Century Fox has changed the title of their upcoming reboot Rise of the Apes to Rise of the Planet of the Apes (via CBM). Is the studio really that worried that audiences won’t make the connection that the film is related to the Planet of the Apes franchise? While we’ve yet to see a trailer or any footage from the film, one would assume that the whole “monkeys taking over Earth” thing would be a pretty big hint. Throw the word “apes” in the title and it’s pretty much a dead giveaway.

Nevertheless, the prequel centers on a young scientist (James Franco) whose attempts to cure Alzheimer’s leads to the creation of a super-intelligent ape (played by Andy Serkis using motion-capture). The cast includes Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Tom Felton, Tyler Labine, and Brian Cox. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is set to hit theaters on August 5^th.

We’ve got a couple of release date shifts for you this evening. 20^th Century Fox has moved its Planet of the Apes prequel Rise of the Apes again, this time from November 23^rd to August 5^th, where it will be up against the Ryan Reynolds/Jason Bateman body-switching comedy The Change-Up, Sony’s The Smurfs and Timur Beckmambetov’s sci-fi thriller The Darkest Hour. Originally, the James Franco-starred flick was set to be released this June, but Fox pushed it back for a holiday release. Now, the studio is positioning the film as the “last big event movie of the summer.” Rise of the Apes stars stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, and Andy Serkis.

Additionally, Fox announced via Twitter that it’s moving director David Gordon Green’s R-rated childcare comedy The Sitter from August 5^th to the prime holiday date of December 9^th, where it will go head-to-head with Garry Marshall’s star-studded New Year’s Eve. The Sitter stars Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell and J.B. Smoove.

Fox’s Planet of the Apes prequel, Rise of the Apes, was scheduled to come out this summer, but was pushed back to the holiday season so that there was more time to work on the special effects.  The new Apes flick centers on a young scientist (James Franco) whose attempts to cure Alzheimer’s leads to the creation of a super-intelligent ape (played by Andy Serkis using motion-capture).  The first official image from the film has been released, and while there are no apes rising, we do get to see Franco working hard at the science.

Hit the jump to check out the image.  Rise of the Apes also stars Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Tom Felton, Tyler Labine, and Brian Cox.  The film opens November 23rd.

We’ve got some release date changes for you regarding a number of 20^th Century Fox properties courtesy of Box Office Mojo. First up, the Planet of the Apes reboot Rise of the Apes starring James Franco and Andy Serkis has been moved from a summer release in June to November 23^rd where it will take advantage of the holiday season (as well as give the visual effects teams more time to fine-tune said CGI’d apes). Andrew Niccol’s Now starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried has moved back a month from September 30^th to October 28^th.

The Jim Carrey starred family film Mr. Popper’s Penguins has also been moved up, from August 12^th to the prime summer date of June 17^th where it will square off against The Green Lantern and the Cameron Diaz/Justin Timberlake comedy Bad Teacher. The David Gordon Green-directed comedy The Sitter starring Jonah Hill moves from July 17^th to August 5^th. The Anna Faris/Chris Evans comedy What’s Your Number? moves from April 29^th to September 30^th, while Monte Carlo starring Leighton Meester and Selena Gomez moves from July 1^st to August 11^th.

In addition to the shuffles, Fox announced the release dates of the former Alien prequel Prometheus (March 9, 2012) and the bird watching comedy The Big Year starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson (October 14^th, 2011).

We caught up with actor James Franco and Academy Award-winning director Danny Boyle today at a roundtable interview to talk about their new film, 127 Hours, about the true life story of mountain climber Aron Ralston who becomes trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone near Moab, Utah and resorts to desperate measures in order to survive. While we were at it, we asked them about their upcoming projects. James told us why he decided to do Rise of the Apes and what it was like to have an opportunity to work opposite Andy Serkis. Boyle also described how honored he felt to be asked to direct the opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympics.  Hit the jump for their comments and look for the full interview soon:

Possibly because the last Planet of the Apes movie (Tim Burton’s 2001 remake) still has left a stink on the franchise, we’re currently not hearing much about next summer’s Rise of the Apes.  However, AICN may have turned up a cool bit of inter-departmental promo art for the film.  On certain productions, each department will create their own designs for the film’s logo and title.  It’s not official, but it’s still neat and the design the props department on Rise of the Apes came up with ain’t bad.  Hit the jump to check it out.

For those just tuning in, Rise of the Apes is a prequel to the Planet of the Apes franchise and how “man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.”  Hopefully, there will be a scene where a scientist argues the benefits of developing the “Blow Up the Statue of Liberty” gene.  The film stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, and Andy Serkis.  It’s set to open on June 24, 2011.

We’ve got a pair of set photos for you today.  The first comes from the set of Rise of the Apes, and features stars Freida Pinto and James Franco walking across a bridge with what currently looks like Andy Serkis, but will eventually resemble an ape on screen.  The Planet of the Apes reboot also stars John Lithgow, Brian Cox, and Andy Serkis, and Tom Felton.

The other comes from Wes Craven’s Scream 4 set, with the iconic villain Ghostface in frame.  Original cast members Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette will all reprise their roles in some capacity, while Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettierre, Rory Culkin, and Adam Brody are new to the sequel.  Check out both images after the jump.

UPDATE: Fox has asked us to take down the Rise of the Apes image…sorry if you missed it.

Yet another piece of the Rise of the Apes puzzle has come together. Already starring James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, and Andy Serkis, the Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist) film has now added Harry Potter alum Tom Felton to the cast. Per Fox’s Twitter Feed, Felton will play Cox’s son.  As mentioned last week, Cox plays the villainous owner of a primate sanctuary who runs the facility without compassion for the animals that live there.

The prequel is set to begin filming later this month and is currently aiming for a June 24^th, 2011 release. Hit the jump for a synopsis and for a video reminder of Felton’s rudely interrupted award speech at this year’s MTV Movie Awards.

We have three bits of casting news to bring to you tonight. First up, former child star Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense) has agreed to join the coming-of-age tale Sex Ed. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Osment, who hasn’t appeared in a film since 2007′s Home of the Giants, will play “a college graduate who dreams of teaching high school Algebra, but due to budget restraints ends up teaching sexual education, despite being a virgin. He discovers an unlikely mentor in a blues bar, a ruthless enemy in the local PTA, and a gorgeous Polish girl for whom English is a distant second language.” It seems like only yesterday that Osment was curled up with a blanket talking to a dead Bruce Willis about other dead people. Now, he’s teaching sexual education. They grow up so fast.

For more news on Brian Cox (Trick ‘r Treat) signing onto Rise of the Apes and Swedish beauty Helena Mattsson (Surrogates) taking on Guns, Girls, and Gambling, hit the jump.

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.