But the great Billy Connolly has landed a key role, according to a press release, and should finalize the casting on what’s without question one of the most anticipated one-two punch for 2012 and ’13.

Connolly will play Dain Ironfoot, a great dwarf warrior and cousin of Thorin Oakenshield, in Jackson’s two-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit.”

“We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the staunchest and toughest of Dwarves, than Billy Connelly, the Big Yin himself,” Jackson said in a statement to THR. “With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of ‘The Hobbit’ is now complete. We can’t wait to see him on the Battlefield!”

Connolly joins Sir Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom and Andy Serkis, who will return as Gollum in the films.

We’ll see the first part, “An Unexpected Journey,” on December 14, but then will have to wait a full year for the conclusion, “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” which reaches theaters on December 13, 2013.

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Supporters were pointing to a supplemental feature on the recently released Blu-ray that highlights the amount of work that went into Serkis’ performance so as to be able to capture Caesar, the brilliant ape who triggered the money revolution. Detractors weren’t sure whether they’d be able to differentiate between Serkis’ and the contributions of the motion-capture artists working with Serkis’ efforts … but possibly taking his performance one step further.

But even those who weren’t convinced enough to put Serkis on their ballot at least admitted that Serkis absolutely deserved to be considered for a Best Actor nomination, which is excellent news for 20th Century Fox.

The studio’s co-chair and CEO, Tom Rothman, admitted to THR that they planned to push the actor’s performance in the ongoing Oscar race, believing Serkis could finally be recognized after being overlooked for his work on Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

“I think we may be at the place where we will see a first-ever in Hollywood this year, which is to see Andy Serkis get nominated for a best supporting actor for ‘Planet of the Apes,’ even though his face never actually appears,” he said while attending the Gotham Independent Film Awards. “But his performance appears, so we are going to push that hard.”

“The emotionality – what you see and what you feel – he did it,” Rothman continued. “I saw him. I watched him. Then they digitally overlaid – you can think of it as a costume – the skin and the hair of an ape. But I tell you the thing that people felt – and a lot of people where moved when they saw the movie – is because of his performance.”

This could be a year of “firsts,” or at least a return to historical form for the Oscars, which could potentially honor a black-and-white, largely silent film in “The Artist” or nominate CGI, mo-cap features like Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tintin.” But I’m thrilled to hear Fox plans to put its weight behind Serkis, who continues to amaze in a field that’s still developing, yet accomplishing enough to catch the Academy’s attention.

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So for now, this list feels right. Granted, too much can change between now and nominations, and campaigns are still formulating around the critics’ groups that will begin as early as next week (with the New York Film Critics’ Circle jumping the gun to beat the National Board of Review).

But, if the Oscars were held tonight, here’s who I think would compete for an Academy Award, ranked in order of their chances to win – knowing that any or all of these could change at the drop of a hat.

BEST PICTURE
“The Artist”
“The Help”
“The Descendants”
“War Horse”
“Moneyball”

Also contending: “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” “Midnight In Paris,” “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” “Drive,” “The Tree of Life,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2″

BEST DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”
David Fincher, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Steven Spielberg, “War Horse”
Bennett Miller, “Moneyball”

Also contending: Woody Allen, Stephen Daldry, Steve McQueen, George Clooney, Martin Scorsese, Terrence Malick, Tomas Alfredson, Clint Eastwood

BEST ACTOR
Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”
Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
George Clooney, “The Descendants”
Michael Fassbender, “Shame”
Woody Harrelson, “Rampart”

Also contending: Leonardo DiCaprio, Gary Oldman, Ryan Gosling, Michael Shannon, Tom Hardy, Owen Wilson

BEST ACTRESS
Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis, “The Help”
Charlize Theron, “Young Adult”
Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams, “My Week with Marilyn”

Also contending: Tilda Swinton, Elizabeth Olsen, Berenice Bejo, Kirsten Dunst, Olivia Colman, Felicity Jones, Keira Knightley

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jim Broadbent, “The Iron Lady”
Kenneth Branagh, “My Week with Marilyn”
Albert Brooks, “Drive”
Max von Sydow, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”
Nick Nolte, “Warrior”

Also contending: Christopher Plummer, Jonah Hill, Ezra Miller, Tom Hardy, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Andy Serkis, Armie Hammer

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Octavia Spencer, “The Help”
Vanessa Redgrave, “Coriolanus”
Judy Greer, “The Descendants”
Carey Mulligan, “Shame”
Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”

Also contending: Shailene Woodley, Jessica Chastain, Melissa McCarthy, Bryce Dallas Howard

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By Pete Hammond
HollywoodNews.com: Defying all expectations, even from the most optimistic projections of its distributor 20th Century Fox, the prequel to the venerable Planet of the Apes franchise, Rise of the Planet of the Apes scored at least $20 million more at the boxoffice than anticipated with a sterling estimate of $54 million and an A minus Cinemascore rating. Critics loved it too giving it an 81% fresh score at Rotten Tomatoes.

Coming towards the end of a long summer of one hoped-for blockbuster opening after another, little hope was held out for this reinvention of the Apes tale starring James Franco and Andy Serkis . But a smart script, good direction and state-of-the-art special effects lifted it not only into the top ranks of any previous Apes movie but also to the top of some critics (like TIMES’s Richard Corliss) lists of the year’s best pictures. Fox Co-Chairman Tom Rothman said that the studio always had faith in this concept but that the technology just wasn’t there yet to make a credible version , that is unless you know some “really talented apes”. In this case the CGI and Performance Capture process had grown so sophisticated that they were able to make this film without employing a single real ape. That fact delighted the animal rights group PETA which showed its approval by going to the premiere last week holding signs that were very grateful Fox did not use the real thing. Franco said there was no way this movie could have been made a decade ago. In that time director Tim Burton attempted to re-invigorate the franchise, which began in 1968 with the Charlton Heston classic, Planet of the Apes, spawning four sequels and a TV Series, by basically updating and remaking the original with Mark Wahlberg in the lead. It wasn’t a flop but was not generally well-received and might have been a franchise killer had Director Rupert Wyatt and screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, none of whom had much of a resume, somehow came up with a concept and execution that has taken this prequel detailing the rise to power of the Apes into a whole new creative territory for the series. But in the end the real reason any of it works is the remarkable performance of Andy Serkis , best known as Gollum in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. His performance as Caesar , the lead Ape mastermind, may be buried in CGI trickery but is at its heart screen acting of the highest rank. He shows that the much-denigrated Peformance Capture technique can be the real deal when it is married to the right actor. There’s real emotion coming from Serkis and it’s the most effective use of the process ever. Gone are the days of actors donning ape suits and Rise of the Planet of the Apes should spawn a whole new generation of Apes movies. Or so we hope.

Also opening wide this week was another movie with a well-worn concept, The Change-Up which is basically Freaky Friday with an ‘R’ rating and Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds . It has no right to work as well as it does but Bateman and Reynolds really use their background in TV Sitcoms to milk every possible gem out of this flick, the latest in a long line of body switching movies. But if it works, it works and this one has several LOL moments. For some reason though it didn’t connect with moviegoers who may be burnt out by the string of raunchy summer comedies this season like Hangover 2 (this comes from the original Hangover writers) and the surprise hit, Bridesmaids. With only an estimated $13.5 million and a middling ‘B’ Cinemascore rating to go with its terrible 21% Rotten standing at Rotten Tomatoes I am clearly in the minority. But I had a great time with this one. It may be mindless, but its got lots of laughs and it seems a shame that it couldn’t connect the way Universal hoped it might.

That’s showbiz.

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Wyatt’s “Rise,” which documents how a scientist (James Franco) hoping to cure Alzheimer’s, unleashes a breed of super-intelligent apes, nabbed an estimated $18 million on Friday, forcing analysts to adjust predictions and put “Apes” in a $45-million range for the weekend.

Read our exclusive interview with “Apes” star Andy Serkis right here!

THR notes that the film “was playing well across the country, including among various ethnic groups,” reiterated that it was “drawing rave reviews, particularly for the photo-realistic apes,” and commented that audiences “agreed with critics in liking the movie, and gave it an A- CinemaScore, according to Friday night exit polls.”

Universal’s “The Change-Up” wasn’t nearly as lucky, despite an aggressive publicity push by stars Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman in the days leading up to the film’s release.

David Dobkin’s body-switching comedy “underperformed,” according to THR, by posting an estimated $4.5 million on Friday.

Given how successful similar R-rated comedies have done this summer, from “The Hangover” to Bateman’s own “Horrible Bosses,” Universal no doubt expected bigger things from “Change-Up,” which now likely will finish in the low-teens, if it’s lucky.

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As the title suggests, Rupert Wyatt’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” explains how a scientist (James Franco) trying to invent a cure for Alzheimer’s creates a race of hyper-intelligent apes that turn our planet into the alternate universe introduced in the 1968 sci-fi classic.

Serkis, for his part, plays Caesar, Franco’s pet ape who eventually leads the revolt against humanity. But the actor best known for playing Gollum and King Kong for blockbuster director Peter Jackson couldn’t be more cordial when he called HollywoodNews.com to talk about “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” his time spent at San Diego’s Comic-Con, and the work he’s putting into two anticipated features from Jackson and director Steven Spielberg. Here’s Andy Serkis:

HollywoodNews.com: You just got back from Comic-Con in San Diego, where you screened “Apes” footage. How did it go?

Andy Serkis: Oh, Comic-Con was awesome. It was absolutely brilliant. We had a great time. It was thrilling being in Hall H and presenting all of our “Apes” clips. The fans seemed to really be behind it. And then the following day, I was there with Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson for the “Tintin” panel, and that was awesome. My family was there, so I took my boys onto the floor where they went crazy. I just had such a great time.

HollywoodNews.com: Do you think Comic-Con’s still an important stop on a film’s marketing campaign?

Well, you know, for something like “Tintin,” which in the United States so far as a kind of limited understanding, that was very relevant. But also, Comic-Con is for the fans. It’s for people who love these kinds of genres and dig into popular culture. I think that it’s a treat or a reward for all of those guys.

HollywoodNews.com: When it came to “Apes,” did you even have to audition, or did you just hand them a Blu-ray of Jackson’s “King Kong?”

[Laughs] You know, the job actually came to me from Joe Letteri, the senior visual effects supervisor at WETA. They had just been brought on board to create the apes, and he suggested me. Rupert Wyatt, the director, got in touch. By then, I had read the script and just thought Caesar was a brilliant role. Despite the fact that I have already played a primate, I didn’t for a second not want to do it for that reason. People have asked me, “Why are you doing another ape?” But that’s like saying, “Why are you doing another human?”

HollywoodNews.com: Right, so long as there is something different in the character that you can dig in to.

And with this, there’s just no comparison, whatsoever. Caesar is a character. I get to play this innocent young chimpanzee who evolves into sort of Frankenstein’s monster and then has this moment of self-awareness where he doesn’t know which species he belongs to, even though he has been raised by humans. That’s not King’s story, by any stretch of the imagination.

HollywoodNews.com: Andy, I’m curious if you have seen the “Project Nim” documentary that’s out now?

No. Obviously, you know, I’m aware of it, and people have talked a lot about it in the press that we have been doing. Seemingly there is a lot of crossover with what we are doing, so I am dying to see it. Clearly Nim is a chimp brought up by human beings. But I think the main difference is that with Caesar, we go that one step further to present an ape who is the recipient of this super-intelligence-enhancing drug, which is a test that is a cure for Alzheimer’s. So there is that layer that separates it from Nim’s story.

HollywoodNews.com: Is there anything, from a performance standpoint, that you could lift from the original “Apes” films?

No, no, this is a completely fresh start because we are talking about apes that we know of today. They are not humanoid apes who have evolved at any point. There are nods and homages to the very first “Planet of the Apes” movie in our film, but nothing in terms of performance that I could lean on.

HollywoodNews.com: That’s curious, though. So much is written about the technology of motion-capture, but it’s your performance driving Caesar. Which actors did you admire as you honed your craft, and do you pull from them?

Well, now you’re talking about Charles Laughton as the Hunchback of Notre Dame, which to me is an indelible character. There’s John Mills in “Ryan’s Daughter.” These are all great character performances. Obviously a lot of Robert De Niro’s early work I’m really riveted by, the level of dedication for the physical change and the way that he could manifest himself in so many different roles.

HollywoodNews.com: Peter Jackson’s short films from the set of “The Hobbit” show you doing a lot of second unit direction.

Yeah, that has been a massive challenge, particularly because I’ve never worked in 3D before and haven’t worked with such a big crew. Having said that, it’s remarkable that, even for a film of that size, there’s an intimacy. Perhaps it’s because I know the crews very well and I’ve worked in New Zealand a lot, so I have a shorthand with a lot of them. Because I’m working as a set of eyes for Peter, I’m working to his tastes. Which I share, because I have learned a lot from him. I guess I feel that each day is presenting a new challenge, but I am up for it, because there is a heck of a lot to do.

HollywoodNews.com: I’m glad you mentioned 3D. As someone who has been at the forefront of some cutting-edge technologies, what are your thoughts on 3D? Is it here to stay?

Well, I love it. I absolutely love it. I’m now used to directing with 3D glasses on in front of a big monitor and it’s just beautiful. It’s like everything. We all balk at a new technology. Much like performance-capture. Actors are still convinced computers are going to take jobs away from actors rather than understating that it is a liberating tool. With 3D, it’s all working toward what I am interested in … really this is all about the future, figuring out how we are going to receive stories in 10, 20 or 30-years time? My children are growing up. We might be watching a 2D image in a dark room with other people, or we there might be something that’s more visceral or immersive, a combination of 3D, holographics, performance capture and gaming. I’m sure all of those thing will converge.

Andy Serkis co-stars with James Franco and Freida Pinto in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” which opens everywhere on Friday, Aug. 5.

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Right now, I’m lukewarm. I didn’t grow up with the European comic, which Remi penned under the pseudonym Hergé. The story follows a Belgian reporter named Tintin who embarks on countless adventures with his faithful dog, Snowy. So I’m approaching the material as a complete newcomer, and am anxious to see why the material spoke to Spielberg. Is Tintin an Indiana Jones type adventurer? Will this resemble the Spielberg-produced “Goonies,” or will this lean closer to “Hook,” which pillaged classic fairy tale literature but lost the mischief and heart?

This morning, Empire scored two exclusive photos from the “Tintin” production. Spielberg is using motion-capture animation to bring “Tintin” to life, with Jamie Bell in the lead role and an animated version of Snowy. The supporting cast includes Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, Cary Elwes, Nick Frost and the king of mo-cap, Andy Serkis.

“With live action you’re going to have actors pretending to be Captain Haddock and Tintin,” said Peter Jackson, a co-producer who is overseeing the “Tintin” effects with his artists at WETA.

“You’d be casting people to look like them. It’s not really going to feel like the Tintin Hergé drew. It’s going to be somewhat different. With CGI we can bring Hergé’s world to life, keep the stylised caricatured faces, keep everything looking like Hergé’s artwork, but make it photo-real.”

“Tintin,” filmed and presented in 3D, will be in theaters next October.

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Photo courtesy of Empire.

The director has announced the following actors for his “Hobbit” production: Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield, Aidan Turner and Rob Kazinsky as Kili and Fili, Graham McTavish as Dwalin, John Callen as Oin, Stephen Hunter as Bombur, and Mark Hadlow as Dori and Peter Hambleton as Gloin.

Slash Film says more casting news is on the way, including the supposed confirmation of the return of Ian McKellen as Gandalf and Andy Serkis as Gollum.

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20th Century Fox reports that Tom Felton, best known for playing Draco Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” franchise, will join the upcoming “Planet of the Apes” prequel-sequel, “Rise of the Apes.” Continuing his villainous ways, Felton will play son of Brian Cox’s controversial ape-facility owner, according to ComingSoon.net.

“Rise” already boasts an impressive cast, from James Franco to John Lithgow and a motion-captured Andy Serkis. Peter Jackson’s beloved effects house — Weta Digital — will create photo-realistic apes, as opposed to the costumed actors used in prior “Apes” films.

Directed by Rupert Wyatt, “Rise of the Apes” takes place in modern-day San Francisco, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.

“Rise of the Apes” will be in theaters on June 24, 2011.

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Brian Cox is in final negotiations to join “Rise of the Apes,” the announced “Planet of the Apes” prequel/sequel that will reach theaters in June 2011, according to The Wrap. Cox would play the owner of a controversial primate sanctuary whose cruel practices eventually lead to an ape riot.

Cox will join an already impressive cast, including James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow and Andy Serkis. “Rise of the Apes” takes place in modern-day San Francisco, and will explain how experiments created mentally advanced apes, and led to the eventual battle for ape supremacy.

Rupert Wyatt will direct. “Rise” is scheduled for release on June 24, 2011.

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