Pinto and Lithgow on Board for RISE OF THE APES

THR’s Heat Vision Blog is reporting that actors Freida Pinto (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE) and John Lithgow (Dexter) have joined the cast of 20th Century Fox’s PLANET OF THE APES: RISE OF THE APES.

Rupert Wyatt will direct the feature, which focuses on a scientist (James Franco) who has been working on a cure for Alzheimer’s that is being tested on apes. The test subject named Caesar evolves rapidly, and the scientist takes him home to live with him and protects him from cruel doctors. Lithgow will play Franco’s Alzheimer’s-stricken father. Pinto is the movie’s female lead, a primatologist.

The prequel is designed to be show the modern-day event that set in motion the eventual dominance of apes over humans seen the classic 1960s and ’70s movies. It is unclear how much of the movie will focus on the ape inciting an ape revolution, but given that effects company WETA is on board, the monkey play could be significant. The apes will not be actors in costumes but rather rendered digitally to be photo-realistic by WETA, employing certain of the groundbreaking technologies developed for Avatar.

RISE OF THE APES begins shooting sometime this summer in British Columbia. Peter Chernin and Dylan Clark will produce for Chernin Entertainment under its new pact with Fox. Acclaimed filmmaker Rupert Wyatt (THE ESCAPIST) is directing from a screenplay by Amanda Silver & Rick Jaffa, who also are producing.

20th Century Fox will release RISE OF THE APES into theaters on June 24, 2011.