Director Matt Reeves has clearly been busy in the hive of activity that is the pre-production office for Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, including starting to lock in the cast. We already know that Kodi Smit-McPhee and Jason Clarke are aboard, but the biggest name so far arrived today with news that Gary Oldman has signed on.

The Dark Knight Rises star is set to play a man named Dreyfus, the leader of a human colony struggling to survive in San Francisco.

Set 15 years after the events of Rise, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes finds mankind suffering after the virus spread at the end of the first movie has savaged the population and the ape rebellion led Caesar (Andy Serkis) continues to advance.

Yet there are problems for Caesar too; he’s trying to hold on to order and power within his new simian civilization.

Oldman seems to be on something of a science fiction kick at the moment, since he’s just worked on Jose Padilha’s RoboCop remake. But he’s also found time for something a little less technical, as he’ll appear in Robert Luketic’s industrial espionage drama Paranoia, which should arrive later this year.

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes starts shooting this month in New Orleans and monkey madness will break out in cinemas on May 23 next year.