WETA Digital, the VFX team behind films such as Avatar, King Kong and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, were given the task by 20th Century Fox of creating living and breathing apes in roughly a year for Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

The visual effects in recent trailers and TV spots have been quite impressive, and in this new featurette the team show us how they did it.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an origins story set in present-day San Francisco. The film is a reality-based cautionary tale, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. One hyper-intelligent chimp called Caesar (motion captured by Andy Serkis) incites a worldwide ape revolution and causes the downfall of humankind.

James Franco plays a young, driven scientist who becomes a crucial figure in the war between humans and apes, with Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto playing a primatologist. The movie also stars John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo and Andy Serkis as Caesar, and will be released August 5, 2011.

Read similar posts to Rise of the Planet of the Apes – WETA Featurette at Filmonic

Update: The preview is now over and the first trailer will arrive tomorrow on Apple Trailers!

Today at 2:30pm PDT WETA Digital, the VFX team behind films like Avatar and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, will be hosting a behind-the-scenes look at the rendering and creation of the apes in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. They will also be joined by director Rupert Wyatt who will discuss the technology developed for the film.

You can watch a replay of the preview below:

Rise of the Planet of the Apes stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo and Andy Serkis as Caesar, and will be released August 5, 2011.

Read similar posts to WETA host Rise of the Planet of the Apes preview at Filmonic

Despite tempting offers to take The Hobbit to Eastern Europe or the now-vacant Harry Potter studios in London, Warner Bros has come to an agreement with New Zealand to keep Middle Earth where it belongs.

Prime Minister John Key announced the news at a press conference today following hours of negotiations between Warner Bros. and New Zealand government leaders. Apparently New Zealand will offer an extra tax rebate of $7.5 million per movie, as well as paying $10 million of Warner Bros’ marketing costs. In exchange New Zealand will host one of the world premieres, and Warner Bros. will help promote the country as both a film production and tourism destination

This appears to be the final hurdle for The Hobbit after years of delays and the recent actors union boycotts. Director Peter Jackson and the team will now start working ready for filming in February. Martin Freeman has been confirmed to play Bilbo Baggins alongside Ian McKellen as Gandalf and Andy Serkis as Gollum/Smeagol. Jackson has also cast his dwarves (click here for the full rundown).

Read similar posts to The Hobbit to shoot in New Zealand at Filmonic

Its official! After 4+ months of talking and wasting precious time, it has been announced that Guillermo Del Toro will be directing The Hobbit. We heard last week at the New York Comic Con that we would hear something one way or another, and now we have the good news that he will be lending his creative imagination to Middle Earth.

According to Variety, del Toro will be moving to New Zealand for 4 years to work with Peter Jackson and company on filming the two Hobbit prequels back-to-back. It is expected that Ian McKellen and the rest of the required cast will return.

Things had been uncertain for the Hobbit films, with lawsuits over the rights and New Line Cinema folding and becoming part of Warner Bros. However, it seems things have been sorted out, or are in the process.

Peter Jackson was originally going to direct the first Tintin movie, however he gave that job to Steven Spielberg so that he could focus on The Hobbit. Jackson will now be directing the second movie in the Tintin trilogy.

No news on when filming will begin, however del toro has already said that he has spoke to WETA, along with designers and other crew members so pre-production in underway. He will be writing the script with Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, who both wrote the Lord Of The Rings scripts.

This is officially the best news of the week! (in the movie world)

Read similar posts to Confirmed: Guillermo Del Toro WILL Be Directing The Hobbit! at Filmonic