When it comes to computer animated primates, Andy Serkis is no rookie. In addition to his wonderful work bringing Gollum to life in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Serkis was the man behind the motion capture creation of Kong in Peter Jackson’s King Kong.

Now comes news that the actor is ready to become ape once again. In a Twitter message from 20th Century’s Fox’s vice president of corporate communications, Chris Petrikin, it was revealed that Serkis would be playing Caeser in their Planet of the Apes prequel, Rise of the Apes. The VP said “This is cool: Gollum reteams with Weta. Andy Serkis to star as Caesar in ‘Rise of the Apes,’ portraying chimp who leads the simian revolt.”

In the movie, Caeser begins as one of the apes being used by a scientist (James Franco) to try and discover a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease. When he shows incredible progress and even begins to rapidly evolve, the scientist takes the ape home to protect him. Before long, it’s realized that Caeser is only the just the start as a new breed of intelligent ape is quickly growing in numbers.

Serkis joins the cast that already includes Franco, John Lithgow, and Freida Pinto. Rupert Wyatt will direct the movie from a script written by Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa. Rise of the Apes will be released June 24, 2011.

[Source: via /Film]