Woody Harrelson will star as the villain in 20th Century Fox’s next “Planet of the Apes” installment, TheWrap has learned.
Matt Reeves will return as the director for the new project titled “War of the Planet of the Apes,” set for a July 14, 2017 release. Mark Bomback and Reeves are writing the screenplay, based on Pierre Boulle’s novel, “La Planète Des Singes.” Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver producing.
While the plot is still unknown, the film will continue with the story of Caesar, the ape who was one of the protagonists in the first two films of the reboot series. In total, this will be the eighth film in the franchise.
However, Harrelson will play a character called the Colonel. Gabriel Chavarria is starring in the film, but it is not certain who else will be returning.
Harrelson is currently filming “LBJ,” in which he stars as Lyndon B. Johnson, and will be on screen as Haymitch Abernathy in “The Hunger Games: Mockingly — Part 2,” the last installment of the “Hunger Games” franchise.
Harrelson is represented by CAA and Ziffren Brittenham.