RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, a movie that most thought would suck, ended up being really good. And there’s no question about who was the best part. Not James Franco, not Freida Pinto, not even the always reliable John Lithgow. Andy Serkis delivered a wonderful performance as lead ape Caesar even though it was completely motion-capture. Serkis once again proved that he is the best man for mo-cap and can give the audience something they’ve never seen before.
Therefore it’s not a huge surprise when Deadline reports that Fox has signed a deal to bring back Serkis for several APES sequels. The studio is giving him seven figures, a hefty payday for an actor that many people haven’t seen in the flesh. Also returning for at least the first sequel is director Rupert Wyatt and writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. No word on when a sequel would be filmed but seeing as how a script isn’t written yet, it might be awhile.
Along with the news of Serkis’s signing, Deadline also revealed something many had suspected: Fox is going to mount an Oscar campaign for Serkis, hoping to land the man a nomination during awards season. This was also rumored back when Serkis nailed it as Gollum for LORD OF THE RINGS. Persumably Fox is angling for Best Supporting Actor, a category that would be the easiest for his unorthodox performance. However, it’ll be a tough accomplishment. Many in the business still don’t consider it actual acting, at least not the type that deserves an Oscar nomination. The conventional thinking is that if Caesar was so amazing why not nominate the special effects team? Of course the folks at Weta deserve a nomination as well but their CGI wouldn’t be quite as impressive without the heartfelt performance from Serkis. I think the man deserves recognition but I would be really, really surprised if he gets it.
