Lithgow and Pinto Join Franco in 'Rise of the Apes' Film

The Hollywood Reporter reveals today that John Lithgow and Freida Pinto will join the previously announced James Franco in the Fox prequel to Planet of the Apes, Rise of the Apes, for the big screen. The film is being directed by Rupert Wyatt and centers on a scientist (Franco) who is using apes to test a cure for Alzheimer's Disease. Things go sour when the scientist brings the main subject, an ape named Caesar, home with him to keep him out of reach of other researchers who plan to harm him. In the film, Lithgow is set to portray Franco's father, stricken with Alzheimer's disease. Pinto will play a primatologist.

Peter Chernin and Dylan Clark for Chernin Entertainment are producing the film alongside Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa, who also wrote the screenplay. Production on the film begins this summer in British Columbia.

Lithgow is known for his roles as Dr. Dick Solomon on the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun, Arthur Mitchell on Showtime's Dexter and Reverend Shaw Moore in Footloose. He appeared in the films The World According to Garp (1982) and Terms of Endearment (1983), receiving the Academy Award nomination, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for each. On the stage, he appeared in the musical adaptation of Sweet Smell of Success, winning the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. He again appeared in a musical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, receiving the Tony nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. Additional recent stage credits include All My Sons and Mr. and Mrs. Fitch. In addition to his Tony accolades, he has earned multiple Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, as well as two Academy Award nominations.

Freido Pinto is best known for her starring role in the Oscar-winning film, Slumdog Millionaire. For her performance Pinto won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Before starring in Slumdog Millionaire, Pinto anchored the international travel show, Full Circle, on Zee International Asia Pacific in English between 2006-08. Pinto has completed work on Miral, a Franco-Israeli film directed by Julian Schnabel. She also co-stars in Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, with Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Anupam Kher and Naomi Watts, which premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. She is currently shooting the film, Immortals.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.