Gary Oldman to star in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

The cast for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes continues to grow. In the past week or so we learned that Jason Clarke and Kodi Smit-McPhee had joined the cast and now we have confirmation that Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight Rises, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, just about everything) has also been cast. It's been suggested that Oldman is going to play Dreyfus, the leader of the human resistance against the apes.

This cast is starting to get pretty exciting.

Kodi Smit-McPhee cast in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

After the addition of Jason Clarke last week the cast seems to be gaining some more momentum with the announcement of another lead role. Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In, ParaNorman) has been cast in another unspecified lead role. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes takes place 15 years after the events of the first film and focuses on the human survivors struggling to survive in San Francisco. The thing that confuses me a bit about McPhee's casting is he is still a teenager which means he would have been a baby/toddler when the monkey virus outbreak happens at the end of the first one, but they might make his character a little older than he is. Either that or maybe he's playing Clarke's son or something.
This marks the second Matt Reeves film that McPhee will appear in. McPhee had a lead role in Let Me In back in 2010. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the sixth film added to McPhee's busy schedule. His upcoming projects also include A Birder's Guide to Everything, The Congress, Romeo and Juliet, The Wilderness of James, and The Young Ones.


I'm excited for this because I actually like Kodi Smit-McPhee for what it's worth. I loved him in Let Me In and I think as far as voice work went he did a great job in ParaNorman. Then again, I liked ParaNorman in general. I'm curious to see exactly what role he will have.

Casting news for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Not only will Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (damn that is a tongue twister) take place 15 years after the first film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but it now has its first star. Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty, Lawless, Public Enemies) has been cast in a lead role in what has said to be a story about human scientists struggling to survive alone in San Francisco. The plot is unconfirmed as director Matt Reeves is keeping it tightly under wraps, but either way it should be interesting. Especially since it seems like James Franco will not be returning to star in the sequel.

Look forward to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes which is set for release on May 23, 2014 in 3D.