EXCLUSIVE: Kodi Smit-McPhee has scored a lead role in 20th Century Fox‘s Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes. The follow-up to Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes is directed by Cloverfield‘s Matt Reeves, who also helmed Smit-McPhee in Let Me In opposite Chloe Moretz. Smit-McPhee is currently filming The Young Ones, directed by Jake Paltrow, alongside Nicholas Hoult, Elle Fanning and Michael Shannon. The Australian native most recently voiced the title character in the Oscar-nominated animated feature ParaNorman.
The Fox sequel is ramping up for a May 23, 2014 Memorial Day weekend release, which the studio announced last year. Meanwhile, 16-year-old Smit-McPhee’s been busy. He’s completed Ari Folman’s The Congress with Robin Wright, Paul Giamatti and Harvey Keitel; plays the title character in Michael J. Johnson’s The Wilderness Of James opposite Isabel Furman, Virginia Madsen, and Evan Ross; and has the lead role in A Birder’s Guide To Everything opposite Ben Kingsley. He’ll also appear as Benvolio in Carlo Carlei’s version of Romeo & Juliet (adapted by Downton Abbey‘s Julian Fellowes) with Hailee Steinfeld, Douglas Booth, Ed Westwick, and Paul Giamatti. Smit-McPhee is represented by ICM Partners and managed by The Schiff Co.