The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Woody Harrelson (Zombieland, “True Detective”) is set to star in the upcoming War of the Planet of the Apes as the human villain. Little is known about his role, though the outlet notes he’s called “The Colonel,” meaning it’s possible that Harrelson’s character is a part of the impending military reinforcements that had been called to San Francisco just before the close of 2014’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Harrelson joins a cast that includes Andy Serkis once again as the ape Caesar and Gabriel Chavarria (“East Los High”).
“I know that part of the desire for Matt [Reeves] to do this next movie is about continuing the enjoyment of seeing these apes evolve. So I don’t think we’re going to see a situation where we’re jumping [ahead in time],” series star Andy Serkis said of the film last year. “…It might be three films, It could be four. It could be five. Who knows? But the journey will continue. It might not necessarily be summarized or completely fulfilled in this next one. The point being, eventually we know that we’re going to end up back at ‘The Planet of the Apes,’ but whether it’s this film or not, I don’t know.”
Reeves, who directed last year’s Dawn, will return for the sequel, the script for which he is co-writing with Mark Bomback.
“The notion of what we’re after with the third is to sort of continue that trajectory and see how he becomes a seminal figure in ape history,” Reeves previously told us. “He almost becomes sort of like an ape Moses. A mythic status… We’re trying to play out those themes and continue to sort of explore it in this universe. Exploring human nature under the guise of apes.”
War of the Planet of the Apes is set for release on July 14, 2017.
