Fox Ropes in Andy Serkis for 'Rise....' Sequel, Tries to Get Him An Oscar

This summer's Rise of the Planet of the Apes was the best sci-fi film to come out in a long time, probably since 2009's District 9.  This was due, in no small part, to a magnificent performance from Andy Serkis, known also for his motion-capture rolls as Gollum and King Kong.  Now, as Fox preps for a sequel (a sequel which, for a change, emerges naturally from the plot of the first), they've reported that Serkis has been signed in to play the same role.  This isn't particularly surprising.

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Wanna Go to The Oscars? Here's How

Movie fans here's your chance on the red carpet to see film's best and brightest as they arrive for The 84th Academy Awards.  A new drawing starts next Monday, September 12 at noon E.T./ 9 a.m. PT online, which will last a week and give fans an opportunity to apply for up to 700 available bleacher seats along the red carpet entrance to the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.  

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Academy To Likely Decrease The Number of Best Picture Nominees

Is ten too many?  The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences thinks so.  A few years ago if you remember, the Academy doubled the number of Best Picture Nominees from five to ten to make a few more spots available for more mainstream films as well as indie flicks.  From a marketing standpoint, it's actually great because studios get to sell more DVDs when they're able to say that the film was nominated for Best Picture.  But starting next year, the number of nominees will be anywhere between five to ten depending on the distribution of votes for top films.  Obviously, if the nomination votes are evenly distributed you're likely to see ten films but if they are bubbling up to two or three films, you'll only see five films nominated. 

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Academy Awards Makes Changes To Best Picture Nominees

Was anyone truly expecting these new changes to make a difference? Not really. At least we can now feel a little better about ourselves in knowing that we don't have too much filler for a mandated 10 nominees list for Best Picture next year. It was only two years a go that the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences made the changes to double the nominations list from 5 contenders to a total of 10. Such a massive change allowed hidden gems from the year to make the list even though it never really had a chance to win the tops prize (I’m looking at you The Blind Side, The Kids Are All Right and District 9).

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'The King's Speech' Oscar Winners Colin Firth and Tom Hooper Speak Out About New PG-13 Edit

By now, everyone should be well aware that the big winner at this weekend's Oscars ceremony was The King's Speech.  And, if you're not aware of this, what are you doing on our site?  The R-rated period piece following King George VI's battle with his stammer won statues for Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, Leading Actor, and of course, Best Picture.  Now that the film has cemented itself in cinematic history, talk has moved to Harvey Weinstein's planned family-friendly PG-13 cut of the film.  

The uber-producer made the public very aware of his plans to rerelease the film that won four Oscars and made over $100 million domestically sans f-bombs.  At first, Weinstein's claim to make the film more accessible carried a little weight, but now that the R-rated for language film has been accepted on the largest stage possible for film it just seems like a cash grab.  So what do those creatively invested in the film think?

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