Having just hired a writer for their planned sequel to X-Men: First Class, 20th Century Fox is also moving forward with a sequel to another one of their hit summer movies, Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

The studio reached a deal with performance capture king Andy Serkis to reprise his role as Caesar the ape, which will see him paid a hefty seven-figure sum. Serkis is the man to see when it comes to performance capture work, having given life to characters like Gollum and Kong in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, and it’s exciting to see the man score some big paydays (he was paid well to return for The Hobbit as well).

Director Rupert Wyatt is already set to return (he had an option for a sequel in his contract; Serkis did not), and writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver will also be coming back to pen the script.

Even more exciting, it appears that Fox is willing to drop a little extra coin to champion Serkis as an Oscar contender for his work on Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Many believe the actor should have gotten at least nominated for an Academy Award for his work as Gollum, but at that time very few took performance capture work seriously.

Now, a decade or so later, it would appear that it’s only a matter of time before someone is showered in awards for their performance capture work, and it would only be fitting that Serkis be the first.

What are your thoughts on a Rise of the Planet of the Apes sequel, and Fox campaigning for Serkis to get Academy Awards consideration?

[Source: Deadline]