Planets of the Apes Prequel Rise of the Apes Announced for Summer 2011

20th Century Fox has announced a June 24th 2011 release date for the Planet of the Apes prequel Rise of the Apes. The Escapist helmer Rupert Wyatt will direct from a screenplay by Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa.

James Franco, key supporting player in the “Spider-Man” saga and star of such Judd Apatow projects as “Freaks and Geeks” and “Pineapple Express,” is negotiating with 20th Century Fox for the (presumably) human male lead in “Rise of the Apes.”

The sci-fi thriller, about geneticists who create intelligent simians, is said to be a sort-of remake of the excellent and haunting “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes” (the one with the most Montalban).

The project will utilize motion-capture CGI simians from WETA Digital.

Fox plans to release it June 24 of next year.

Fox has released the official plot synopsis:

RISE OF THE APES (tentative title) is an origin story in the truest sense of the term. Set in present day San Francisco, the film is a reality-based cautionary tale, a science fiction/science fact blend, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy