Released last August, Rise of the Planet of the Apes overcame months of lackluster buzz to become one of the year’s unexpected blockbusters. It was the first truly great film in the Apes franchise since 1972’s Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and it benefited strongly from the central performance by Andy Serkis as the intelligent ape Caesar and the revolutionary motion-capture CGI used to bring the character to life. Although the actor’s performance was overlooked at Oscar time (as many great performances tend to be) the film’s impact on audiences and critics around the world was undeniable.

Rise‘s $468 million worldwide gross all but guaranteed additional sequels and in November we reported that Serkis had signed on to reprise the role of Caesar in a future return to the Planet of the Apes for a seven-figure salary. Director Rupert Wyatt was also set to return as his original contract for Rise contained an option for a sequel, with Rise screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver writing the script for the next Apes movie.

The digital movie rental of the day over at Amazon today is Rise of the Planet of the Apes for only $.99.

This deal is valid through today, Tuesday, April 3, 2012, until 11:59pm PST. Once you activate the rental through Amazon’s Instant Video on demand service, you’ll have access to the movie for 48 hours. If you’re interested in purchasing the digital version, the cost is $14.99.

Also, if you’d like to own a physical copy of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the Blu-ray/DVD Combo Edition is available for $19.99 while the DVD is $15.49. The Blu-ray edition is part of Amazon’s “Buy This DVD and Watch it Instantly” program “” you get the film as a FREE digital rental you can watch immediately when your purchase the physical copy.

You might have wondered what similarities director Sam Raimi‘s upcoming prequel Oz: The Great and Powerful would share with The Wizard of Oz, the 1939 classic which preceded it.

Talking to TeenSpot, one of the many stars of the film, Joey King (Ramona and Beezus), shared some details on the production, her character, and some of the things we can expect to see.

Chris Evans has been cast in The Iceman, replacing James Franco.

The movie tells the story of Richard “The Iceman” Kuklinski, one of the most vicious and emotionless serial killers this planet has ever seen. Most people are familiar with Kuklinski after seeing his bone-chilling interviews on TV, where he talks in great detail about the murders he committed, the work he did as a contract killer for the mob, and how he kept it a secret from his seemingly normal family life.

In the film world, you always have winners, and then losers.

On the winning front, Variety is reporting that Troy Garity, an actor best known for his turns in films like Barbershop and Sunshine, who happens to be the son of Jane Fonda, has joined the cast of the upcoming WB film, Gangster Squad.