One of the banes of my existence is imprecise language.
How many stories do you think are generated each week because someone misreads something or because the language in the original piece was confusing? A great example last week was watching people excitedly post the news that you'd be able to see the entire film “Guardians Of The Galaxy” in IMAX on Monday, and that it would be 17 minutes longer than the regular theatrical cut!
Uhhhh… no.
To that end, I wanted to follow up about the news that broke this weekend about Andy Serkis appearing in “Avengers: Age Of Ultron.” We already knew that Serkis was working as a consultant thanks to interviews Mark Ruffalo gave, but in a short Q&A on Variety, David Cohen complicated the issue quite a bit, and did so in a very off-handed way, one that left the actual meaning of what he was saying up for grabs.
Cohen mentioned Serkis's involvement with “Avengers: Age Of Ultron” and “Star Wars: Episode VII,” and Serkis replied, “The Imaginarium is the performance capture consultant, and I'm playing a role (in both films). On 'The Avengers,' I've been working closely with Mark Ruffalo.”
Okay, that's news. And we ran it as such. But the problem is that people got confused by a follow-up question about whether or not we'll see Serkis in the film. I had to go directly to sources on the film to ask about what Serkis is doing, and they clarified that he is only playing one character in the film, and that the nature of that role is still meant to be a secret. I can confirm, though, that he is not playing any of the already announced characters, and that James Spader handled his own performance capture duties as Ultron.
I'll have an interview with Serkis here on the site as we get closer to the release of the exceptional “Dawn Of The Planet of The Apes.” I'm thrilled to see him working in these films, and to also see him working with other performers to help them understand the full potential of working in performance-capture. I don't believe for a second that he wants to continue to be the one guy playing these roles, but that he is instead dedicated to showing other performers how much they should be embracing these amazing tools so that they are free to play any role.
“Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes” is in theaters July 11th.