RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES 2 (Andy Serkis Speculates)

• RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES ON BLU RAY!!

The Apes have finally been released on Blu-ray DVD!! Want more good news?? Andy Serkis has been talking about the sequel that is in the works…

Andy Serkis Playin Caesar in a Oscar worthy Performance

The big question is whether James Franco or Freida Pinto will survive the virus that ravaged the world at the very end of the film (for those who missed that, it can be found in the end credits). Unfortunately, Serkis was not sure about the fate of Will and Caroline. "As yet, who knows?" he said. "No one really knows the nature of the sequel for sure. It's all being evolved as we speak. I don't even think there's a script at this point. But I'm deeply excited to see where it all goes. We all are."

Director Rupert Wyatt has hinted that the sequel will play like "Full Metal Jacket with apes." And while Serkis, a pro at keeping productions a secret, shied away from going into details about that, he did have this to say: "Obviously at the end of Apes, it's perfectly set up for the ascendancy of the species. Where we go from there should be rather extraordinary."

A lot of people have noticed some of the bread crumbs that was left in the film that has hinted to the sequel, especially the Icarus flight which goes missing (the same vessel from the original 1968 classic). It's a very, very minor subplot in the film – a blink and you'll miss it sort of thing. Serkis, who was eager to acknowledge this little in-film cookie, wasn't exactly sure how that will play out in the sequel. "All I know is that I'm in it, which is good," he said, jokingly. "But I'm not exactly sure the avenues they will pursue. But that is one element they made an effort to include."

While Rupert Wyatt seems hard at work on the sequel, I questioned Serkis about sitting in the director's chair one day, to perhaps helm his own Apes sequel. "Well … at the moment we're hoping that Rupert is directing. He did such a great job on the last one," Serkis said. "We're certain he's going to return, but who knows? Down the line, maybe. Directing is certainly an area that I'm deeply interested in. I have my own projects I plan to work on once The Hobbit is done. Plus I'm setting up a performance capture studio in the UK called The Imaginarium. And we have projects lined up that I'm going to be directing for them."

Jamie bell Playing Tinitn and Andy Serkis playing Captain Haddock

Some of these projects do include feature films, but, interestingly enough, Serkis also gave us a taste that might appeal to theater/dance enthusiasts. "What I'm really interested in developing is looking at performance capture in the live performance arts," he said. "It would be fascinating to have real-time avatars projected onto a screen during theatrical performances or dance routines. That's an area that's pretty much untapped."

So, if Serkis doesn't eventually step into the director's chair for an Apes sequel, he's got plenty of interesting work up his sleeve. You can see him next in The Adventure of Tintin, opening Dec. 21 2011, and The Hobbit, opening in December 2012.