20th Century Fox has signed James Franco to play the lead in Rise of the Apes, a 3D prequel to 1968’s Planet of the Apes using “photorealistic” CGI characters instead of costumed actors. The studio has already scheduled its release on June 24, 2011.
Franco will play a scientist in present day San Francisco performing genetic testing on apes to find a cure for Alzheimer’s. His test subject, Caesar, evolves, develops intelligence and speech, and becomes the leader of an ape rebellion struggling for control of the planet with Franco in the middle, according to Deadline.
Fox is working with Peter Jackson’s WETA to create the digital effects of the apes, which I suppose means dusting off the renderings used in the newest King Kong.
Meanwhile, the 32-year-old actor is also negotiating for the lead in Summit’s R-rated ensemble comedy Ricky Stanicky about a group of friends who blame their mishaps on an imaginary person named Ricky. When their wives finally demand to meet the man, the friends hire an actor (Franco).
I’m a fan of Franco’s work, but his role selection is one of the most baffling in Hollywood. He’s bouncing between multiple stoner comedies, an Oscar-nominated film about timely social issues, a recurring role on the daytime soap opera “General Hospital” (as an artist named Franco), and Danny Boyle’s ambitious take on stranded mountain climber Aron Ralston. Plus Franco has directed several films from shorts to a “SNL” documentary to an oddly-appropriate comedy called The Ape about a guy who lives with a talking monkey.
Even if Rise of the Apes sounds like a disaster of Mark Wahlberg proportions, you have to respect the diversity of Franco. What will he sign up for next?
