Those Apes are back!

 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is filming in the steamy heat of New Orleans with Andy Serkis back in the role of Caesar the leader of the band of genetically evolved apes. HFPA members visited the set, at an abandoned Magic Mountain amusement park on the outskirts of the city (left)  and watched some of the filming, talking  with director Matt Reeves and some of the cast.

Because the effects company WETA is creating the same realistic, expressive apes from the first film, actors, instead of wearing ape  suits, were wired with electronic contacts.

The film takes place 15 years after Rise of the Planet of the Apes when the humans that survived the deadly virus a decade earlier are threatening the apes’ existence.  A truce is formed, but things quickly spin out of control as war breaks out in the fight for dominance. Jason Clarke , Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, and Judy Greer also star and the movie is due to be released on May 23 next year.