The trades are reporting that James Franco has beat out numerous young Hollywood stars to grab the lead in 20th Century Fox’s Planet of the Apes prequel, Rise of the Apes.

The movie will be set in present-day San Francisco where scientists are deep into the God-playing realms of genetic engineering, which leads to the creation of a highly-intelligent species of ape who eventually rise up and rebel in an attempt to gain supremacy over humans. Franco will be playing a “driven scientist, who becomes a crucial figure in the war between humans and apes.”

20th Century Fox is moving forward with their next movie in the Planet of the Apes franchise, and this time around the movie will be a prequel of sorts, telling an origin story of a race of evolved humanoid apes who rise up to fight for control of the planet.

The new film, titled Rise of the Apes, is described as being set in San Francisco where “man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.” It will be directed by Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist), with Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa (The Hand That Rocked the Cradle, The Relic) touching up the script originally penned by Scott Frank and re-penned by Jamie Moss.

The Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon today is the Planet of the Apes 40th Anniversary Collection Blu-ray for only $42.99 (down 67% from the list price of $129.99).

This is the lowest I’ve ever seen this set! (The last time it was 55% off.) This is a huge Blu-ray box set that comes with tons of bonus features.

Note, this sale is today (April 20) for one day only til midnight PST while supplies last, meaning if they run out before the end of the day, that’s it, the sale is up. So, grab this while you can.

The Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon today is the Planet of the Apes 40th Anniversary Collection Blu-ray for $57.95 (down 55% from the list price of $129.99).

This 5-disc Blu-ray set includes all five Planet Of The Apes movies — Planet Of The Apes (the original 1968 version starring Charlton Heston and those damn dirty apes), Beneath The Planet Of The Apes, Escape From The Planet Of The Apes, Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes, and Battle For The Planet Of The Apes, along with a host of bonus features with new features in high definition and a 200-page hardbound oversized book.