James Franco was one of the many reasons why RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES was a surprisingly successful reboot/prequel, but it sounds like we won’t see him in the second film, DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. The sequel has already had a tortuous road, losing Rupert Wyatt as director, but, that being said, the film has secured Matt Reeves to helm and still has Andy Serkis onboard.
Here’s what Franco had to say when asked if he was going to return: “I was going to be a small part of the next one. There was a moment when Rupert Wyatt was going to direct the second one. A lot of the human characters that were in the first movie were dead in the sequel that Rupert was going to direct. But there was one scene, between Caesar and my character, maybe even just like on a video that was left behind, but then a lot of things happened, like [former Fox co-chairman] Tom Rothman who was a big part of the first movie, left. Now Rupert’s not a part of it so I don’t know. My guess is I won’t be in it. Nobody’s talked to me since Rupert left.“
So, I suppose he still could have a small role, but it’d be a tiny one. The film is set for a May 23rd, 2014, release. The script was written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, who wrote the original, and has seen rewrites from Mark Bomback and Scott Z. Burns.
