Gary Oldman joins `Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes`

Los Angeles: British actor Gary Oldman will star in `Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes` as a man struggling to survive the global monkey takeover.

The 54-year-old `Dark Knight Rises` actor has become the latest star to sign on to Matt Reeves` sci-fi sequel, set 15 years after the events of the James Franco-fronted 2011 film, `Rise of the Planet of the Apes`, reported Deadline. Oldman will play Dreyfus, a man who leads a human colony struggling to survive in San Francisco after society has been eliminated by the ape-borne flu seen spreading at the end of the last movie. He joins returning cast member Andy Serkis, who is reprising his role as CGI-enhanced intelligent ape Ceasar, the leader of the monkey rebellion. `Zero Dark Thirty` actor Jason Clarke and `The Road` star Kodi Smit-McPhee also recently joined the film`s line-up. Franco has denied being involved with `Dawn of the Planet of the Apes`. His cameo role was scrapped after Rupert Wyatt - who directed `Rise of the Planet of the Apes` - pulled out of directing the film. `Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes` begins filming this month in New Orleans for a May 2014 release. PTI