Watch A Three-Minute Clip From 'Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes'

20th Century Fox has been working hard to promote Rise of the Planet of the Apes, releasing trailers, clips, and even a series of viral videos. With just a couple weeks to go until the film's opening, the studio has released another new clip, this time introduced by star Andy Serkis. The scene shows off main ape Caesar (Serkis) and his relationship to his caretaker Charles Rodman (John Lithgow) before all that "taking over the world" stuff happens. Watch the scene, which clocks in at just over three minutes, after the jump.

[via Yahoo!]

I have to say the WETA effects for Caesar look pretty good, particularly when it comes to subtle facial expressions. We get a very good sense of Caesar's personality here: he's compassionate and protective, but also rash and violent. And of course, there's a nod to the original Planet of the Apes, in the form of that Statute of Liberty toy Caesar's playing with.

Directed by Rupert Wyatt, Rise of the Planet of the Apes will hit theaters August 5, 2011. The film stars James Franco as an ambitious young scientist who discovers the "cure" that eventually leads to the ape revolt, Lithgow as his Alzheimer's-suffering scientist father, Freida Pinto as a primatologist, Brian Cox as an animal sanctuary owner who has no compassion for his primate charges (wonder how that'll work out for him), Tom Felton as his son, and Serkis as Caesar, the eventual leader of the ape uprising. (There's no way that last part is a spoiler at this point, right?)

Synopsis:

A single act of both compassion and arrogance leads to a war unlike any other — and to the RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. The Oscar-winning visual effects team that brought to life the worlds of Avatar and Lord of the Rings is breaking new ground, creating a CGI ape that delivers a dramatic performance of unprecedented emotion and intelligence, and epic battles on which rest the upended destinies of man and primate.