Merrick here...
Andy Sirkis, who played Gollum in the existing LORD OF THE RINGS films and will reprise the role in the upcoming HOBBIT pictures, is being given an additional task by director Peter Jackson.
Serkis will...
...serve as second unit director on the two films, which are now in production in New Zealand.
[EDIT]
Serkis has already done some directing, including performance capture on a couple video games including Heavenly Sword. But, he said, “When Peter asked me. There was this email out of the blue. It was a fantastic surprise.”
When he completes The Hobbit movies, Serkis aims to direct his first live-action feature.
...per THIS piece at THR.
Serkis will also be seen in the soon-to-be-released RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (which is RISE OF THE APES retitled, which was CAESAR retitled). He'll play Caesar, a different take on a role originated by Roddy McDowall in the original, inconsistent, but often wonderful PLANET OF THE APES films.
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