The human components of Fox's Planet of the Apes prequel Rise of the Apes have been coming together quickly lately, with James Franco set to star as the idealistic scientist who accidentally empowers those damn dirty apes, and John Lithgow and Freida Pinto have signed on for supporting roles. We knew that the apes would be done in CGI this time, not puppets like in the originals, and while that news has disappointed a lot of diehard Apes fans, they probably have reason today to feel better.

As tweeted by Fox communications exec Chris Petrikin, Andy Serkis has signed on to play Caesar, the "chimp who leads the simian revolt." Since Weta, the CGi wizards behind all the Lord of the Rings movies, will be responsible for the visual effects this time around, it makes sense that Serkis would be wiling to step back into the greenscreen suit for this one. It's unclear how big a role the apes will play in the film given that it's a prequel, but you have to assume it will all lead up to a big final battle, and who better to play a chimp villain than the man of many faces Serkis?

Right now Serkis is getting more notice for playing actual humans, like rock star Ian Dury in the biopic sex & drugs & rock & roll, but presumably he'll suit up as Gollum once more whenever The Hobbit finally gets started, and he's also portraying the mo-cap Captain Haddock Steven Spielberg's Tintin movie, due next fall. With Rise of the Apes set to start filming soon, many different, inhuman versions of Andy Serkis will be showing up on screens once again.