Rise of the Apes, 20th Century Fox’s Planet of the Apes prequel, is wasting no time waiting around. Since the movie was revealed back in March, we’ve found out that the lead role will be played by James Franco, and now two new cast members are joining the .

It’s being reported that the always-popular John Lithgow has signed on to the project, and he’ll be joined by Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire, Immortals). Lithgow will be playing the father of Franco’s character, who suffers from Alzheimers Disease. Pinto’s role will be the female lead of the movie, a primatologist.

Rise of the Apes will take place in a modern-day San Francisco where a scientist (Franco) is working hard to cure Alzheimer’s Disease. The medical discoveries he makes, he tests on primates to see if they show any signs of progress. One of the apes being used for tests, named Caesar, shows unbelievable improvements, which leads the scientist to remove him from the lab and protect him. But as anyone who’s seen a Planet of the Apes movie knows, this is just the start of the incredible evolution of primates and their eventual rise to try and replace humans as the top species.

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: Heat Vision]