We love Gary Oldman here on TG. He’s one of the best character actors there is, and in recent years, proven a great part of the Dark Knight ensemble as Commissioner Gordon.
Whatever Oldman does, he’s never ordinary, and you usually look forward to whatever role he decides to tackle next.
So we were excited to read that Oldman is now going to be in the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. While it would be interesting if he was going to play, say, one of the Apes councilmen or elders, as the AV Club reports, Oldman’s role is Dreyfuss, “the leaders of the human resistance.” According to the Hollywood Reporter, Oldman’s character has a military background and was once a police commissioner. (Sound familiar?)
We can clearly see Oldman doing a role like this no problem, and we’re sure he’ll tear it up and deliver something very memorable. According to Collider, Dawn will take place 15 years after what happened in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Most of humanity is gone and the apes rule, but Oldman is going to try and keep it together in the face of mad monkeydom.
The Hollywood Reporter also tells us one part of the story deals with human scientists trying to survive in San Francisco, and another part of the story is about Caesar trying to keep his grip over his ape army. It would indeed be very interesting to see if Oldman could have played a motion capture ape like Serkis, but the leader of the human ape resistance is definitely a great choice as well.
Also on board for Dawn are Jason Clarke from Zero Dark Thirty, and Kodi Smit-McPhee, who voiced ParaNorman. Also back for a mandatory return of course is Andy Serkis as ape leader Caesar.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes will be directed by Matt Reeves (Cloverfield), who is taking over from Rise director Rupert Wyatt, and it’s scheduled to start shooting this spring with a May 23, 2014 release date.
