Actor Woody Harrelson has signed to join Matt Reeves' "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" sequel "War of the Planet of the Apes", as reported by /Film. And he's definitely not taking a small role in the film, but rather as human villain in this rebooted series.
Although it is still unclear who else is returning to the new movie and that plot details are being kept secret, Harrelson is confirmed to play a character called The Colonel.
Hollywood Reporter broke the news, but it did not provide any detailed information about the actor's role aside from his character's name. Nevertheless, this gives fans a hint that Harrelson's character is part of the implementing military reinforcements that had been called to San Francisco just before the last film ended.
Harrelson joins a cast that includes Andy Serkis, who, for the second time, will give life to the CG ape. Moreover, the remaining apes as well as the performance capture actors behind them will return for the next installment.
In related news, Hey U Guys reported the addition of Gabriel Chavarria, but is said to take on a minor role in the upcoming film; while Mark Bomback is set to once again join "War of the Planet of the Apes" to write the screenplay.
/Film added that Reeves had previously spoken elaborately about where the story is going next and how it's going to fit into the larger context of Planet of the Apes:
"[We want] the story to be able to connect from the human to the ape world. So first one, [Rise of the Planet of the Apes] is this sort of how [Caesar] goes from humble beginnings to becoming a revolutionary. In Dawn, he rose to the occasion of becoming a leader, a great leader in really challenging difficult times. The notion of what we're after in the third is continue that trajectory to how he becomes the seminal figure in ape history and almost becomes sort of like an ape Moses of sorts, a kind of mythic ascension. We're trying to play out those themes and try to explore it in this universe of exploring human nature under the guise of apes."
'War of the Planet of the Apes' starts shooting in Vancouver this October with a scheduled release on July 14, 2017.
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