First Look At Ape In ‘Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes’

Here is your first look at Caesar, the ape that begins it all in the “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” Created by WETA Digital, the clip is only four seconds long but we get to see how amazing the visual effects are going to be in this new film as oppose to people in ape costumes and makeup.

Directed by Rupert Wyatt, the film stars James Franco, John Lithgow, Freida Pinto, Andy Serkis, Brian Cox, Tom Felton and David Oyelowo.

Fracno, Lithgow and Pinto play scientists who study the development of intelligence in apes only to end up bearing witness to the fall of man and the rise of the apes. This will essentially be an origins story for the beloved sci-fi classic featuring talking apes that overrun and enslave humanity.

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is currently in production but it’s expected to hit theaters August 5th, 2011.

Here’s the official press release:
WETA Digital, the industry-leading and Academy Award® winning visual effects house behind the wizardry of films such as Avatar, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and District 9, will host a livestream event on Facebook, for RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. On April 13, at 2:30PM PDT, from WETA’s headquarters in Wellington, New Zealand, WETA’s Joe Letteri and Dan Lemmon will give viewers an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at their work on the film, a reality-based cautionary tale that blends science fiction and science-fact – and is the last big event movie of the summer.

The event will live on Facebook’s official fan page for Avatar, which has 14.2 million followers. Last year, WETA won an Academy Award for its groundbreaking visual effects work in rendering an entire fantasy world in James Cameron’s history-making epic. WETA’s work on RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES presented very different challenges and opportunities. In addition to creating a CG character that gives a performance of unprecedented emotion and intelligence, WETA is applying some of the technology it developed for Avatar to bring to life a real world – the film is set in modern-day San Francisco – and epic battles on which rest the upended destinies of man and primate.

Letteri, a five-time Oscar® winner, and Lemmon will provide a look into WETA’s process, and explain how working on a Planet of the Apes film has long been the “holy grail” of visual effects wizardry – and a driving force behind their own careers. In addition, visitors to the livestream event will hear from other RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES filmmakers, including director Rupert Wyatt, and get a behind-the-scenes look at the work of actor Andy Serkis, whose nuanced performance is playing a key role in WETA’s rendering of Caesar, the film’s principal ape character.

In the film’s story, a single act of both compassion and arrogance leads to a war unlike any other — and to the RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. It stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo and Andy Serkis as Caesar. Peter Chernin and Dylan Clark are producing for Chernin Entertainment under its pact with Fox. Rupert Wyatt is directing from a screenplay by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver, who are also producing.