Nordling here.
Mocap or no, I think Andy Serkis turned in one of the best performances of the year in RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. It may get a little tricky when it comes to the technical aspects, but flat out, WETA couldn't have made Caesar come to life without Serkis' involvement, and the result is probably my favorite character of this year's summer films. I think many people were surprised that RISE turned out as good as it did; so many people wrote the film off early on, and I was extremely gratified to find out that the film turned out so well.
Fox was probably also pleased with how people reacted, especially at the box office, and so a sequel was inevitable. Good news - Andy Serkis has signed on to reprise his role as the leader of a new revolution. It's still unclear if any of the other actors would return, but I'm sure everyone would say that they nailed down the most important actor first. As for director Rupert Wyatt, he's definitely returning as well.
Deadline's article also states that Fox is, indeed, pursuing an Oscar campaign for Serkis' performance, which seems completely fair to me. I don't know how successful their campaign will be, and many actors may still be resentful of the new technology - but to hear other actors who've used it talk, they love it - but this is a good step into legitimizing these kinds of performances. Best of luck to Andy Serkis and congratulations on the new deal - can't wait to see what else Caesar does to totally mess up the human race.
Nordling, out.