The third installment of the "Planet of the Apes" franchise is set to start filming this October 2015 at Vancouver, Canada. Hence, with the film already set to roll, it is only natural for the cast to be revealed.
Now, in new developments, The Wrap reports that "Tremes" and "Dallas Buyers Club" actor Steve Zahn has been cast as a new ape in the 20th Century Fox film rumored to be titled "War of the Planet of the Apes.
The report, however, did not specify on the role that Zahn will play or how will his character factor in the upcoming science fiction flick.
According to Screen Rant, since the film's main ape character Caesar played by Andy Serkis has already a number of ally primates, the role of Zahn will most likely fill the void left by Koba, the villainous ape that set the chaos in "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes."
The entertainment news outlet furthered that the ape character of Zahn might even reflect the character of Koba and become the ape antagonist of the movie, challenging Caesars belief towards humanity.
Zahn, who will also be seen in "Captain Fantastic" and in the Netflix Series "Ridiculous 6," will be joining the film's cast that include Serkis and Woody Harrelson who will be playing the human villain known as "The Colonel."
Moreover, a previous report by The Hollywood Reporter cited that the role of Gabriel Chavarria that was rumored to be one of the human leads, was in fact just a small role and the role for the lead is still open for casting.
Matt Reeves, as mentioned by The Wrap, will be taking the helm of the film as the director as well as the script co-writer with Mark Bomback. Chernin Entertainment together with Dylan Clark, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver will produce the film while Mark Roybal, Century Fox executive, will oversee the whole project.
Besides the report where Reeves stated that 'Planet of the Apes 3" will tackle how Caesar becomes the "Moses" of the apes and the title with "War" that hints of an ape-human conflict, the storyline of the film still remains undisclosed and the official plot details is yet to be released.
"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" grossed a total of $708 million worldwide along critical acclaim reviews. Hence, the same success is expected for "War of the Planet of the Apes" that is scheduled to film this month with the release date set on July 14, 2017.