Monkey Business

Really, I just wanted an excuse to use this picture again.

CON-FREAKIN-GRATULATIONS to the folks at David Gould Studios on the Gold Coast. Head of the studio, David Gould, and his wife Agnes Gould have flown to New Zealand to start work on the $90 million Planet of the Apes prequel reboot, Rise of the Apes. Gould posted the news on Facebook and after getting the lo-down from Mediageek, I got in touch with the man himself. He said this is an email:

"Due to the confidential nature of the materials we can't work from the Gold Coast. I will be going back to WETA in New Zealand to be involved with the project. Initially just for three months then potentially longer."

For those of you playing at home, Weta Digital are the visual effects company co-owned by Peter Jackson. Gould worked with them previously as the 3D technical director/lighter on The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King and as the senior technical director on King Kong. Weta will again be responsible for doing the digital effects for the film, including digitally animated apes.Production on Rise of the Apes has already started at Mammoth Studios in Burnaby, Canada and the film stars James Franco, Freida Pinto and Andy Serkis (aka Gollum). It's being directed by Rupert Wyatt and the screenplay is by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, who co-wrote The Relic and Eye For an Eye, both two of my personal favourites. Silver also penned The Hand That Rocks The Cradle.

Besides what information we already have, everyone is keeping the specific details on the film pretty close to their chest which is . . .refreshing! Call me crazy, but after the minty blast that was Inception, maybe less information isn't a bad thing. Anywho, for those of you living under a rock you can find out all about David Gould and his rad studio in my previous posts here and here. In the meantime, I raise my glass to you David Gould Studios.