A new report from Deadline has confirmed that A Better Life actor Gabriel Chavarria is in talks to play one of two human leads in 2017’s War of the Planet of the Apes.
The young actor, who made his feature film debut in 2007’s Freedom Writers, is a series regular on Hulu’s series East Los High. He is also set to star in Universal’s 2016 film Low Riders alongside Melissa Benoist (Supergirl), Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives) and Demian Bichir (The Hateful Eight).
War will be the third installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot franchise, which began in 2011 with Rise of the Planet of the Apes and continued in 2014 with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Rise was a surprise hit when it was released in theaters over four years ago, grossing more than $480 million on a $93 million budget; however, Dawn proved to be an even bigger box office success, raking in over $700 million on a $170 million budget.
Matt Reeves, director of Dawn, is on board to helm and co-write the upcoming film with Mark Bomback, while Peter Chernin, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver will produce. War of the Planet of the Apes is slated for a July 14, 2017 release.