The cast of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is beginning to come together. Keri Russell has been announced as the film’s female lead. She will join Gary Oldman, Zero Dark Thirty’s Jason Clark and Paranorman’s Kodi-Smit-McPhee.
With Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ director Rupert Wyatt stepping down Matt Reeves has taken over, who has previously worked with Russell early in their careers on the T.V. show Felicity. Russell is currently starring in FX’s new drama The Americans as a Russian sleeper agent during the Cold War. She’s also starring in Dark Skies, out in theaters now. Russell is perhaps best known for roles including Mission Impossible III and Waitress.
James Franco, who starred in Rise, is unlikely to be back in anything more than a cameo capacity, if at all. Andy Serkins however, who provided the motion capture for the lead ape Caesar, will return. The film will take place roughly ten years after Rise, where apes have replaced humans as the dominate species on the planet.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is set for a May 23rd 2014 release date.
