Brian Cox for the Bad Guy in 'Rise of the Apes'

They're taking this Planet of the Apes reboot seriously over at Fox. Although the choice of Rupert Wyatt as the director seems like a shot out of nowhere, the cast has been uniformly strong and the idea to start essentially at the beginning - though in the middle of the original series - is a wise decision. So joining James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, and John Lithgow is the great Brian Cox, who's so good at playing villains and gets to add one more to his con column with Rise of the Apes. That's all you need. Well, not exactly, but it's pretty groovy. You also need some bitchin' effects work since the movie won't employ cotumed actors to play the ape. That's where New Zealand's WETA comes in, and this is the first time the Ape franchise has chosen to go to computers to make the apes. They'll be photorealistic this time, or at least that's the goal. There's a connection here you might not have seen: Cox starred in Wyatt's The Escapist a couple years ago as well as a short film Wyatt made a few years earlier. Obviously, that's not enough of a reason to hire the guy to direct a microscope-ready reboot, but you're usually better off with Brian Cox if you can get him. The film opens on June 24th, meaning thi has to get going pretty quickly becaue so much time will have to be spent making digital apes.