Kodi Smit-McPhee Joins 'Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes'

Director Matt Reeves is going back to his last film to fill a key role in his next one. Let Me In star Kodi Smit-McPhee has just been cast as one of the leads in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes. He joins Andy Serkis and Jason Clarke in the sequel to the prequel of 1967's Planet of the Apes which takes place 15 years after Caesar (Serkis) began his ape vs. man revolution. 

Deadline broke the news of the casting but offered no additional info on who Smit-McPhee would be playing other than "one of the leads." One educated guess would be the son of Clarke's character, which would give the film a strong human connection to build around in addition to all the performance capture apes. That, of course, is purely speculation. He could be mo-capping an ape for all we know.

Reeves is planning to start filming in March, with a story that'll have two main components. The first is a group of scientists still living in San Francisco and the other the apes who are "on the path to emerge as society's new rulers."

Reeves is getting a great rising star in Smit-McPhee, who was amazing when he and Reeves collaborated previously in Let Me In, and has a slew of impressive projects both awaiting release and in the works. This year, he was most famously the voice of Paranorman.

Written by Mark Bomback, based on an original draft by Rise writers Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is schedule for release May 23, 2014.