Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

An origin story set in present day San Francisco, where man's own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. Desperate to help his Alzheimer stricken father (John Lithgow) as well as to find a historic and profitable cure, GenSys scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) is experimenting with his new Alzheimer drug ALZ 112 on a female chimpanzee which looks promising - but ultimately fails when the chimp has to be killed after a wild attack on handlers. Will then discovers the chimp had just given birth to a baby, which in the absence of options at the GenSys lab he takes home - he thinks temporarily. Calling him Caesar (Andy Serkis) Will cares for him for several years as he charts increased intelligence and communication skills. He also meets primatologist Caroline (Freida Pinto) with whom he begins a relationship. After developing a stronger version of the drug ALZ 113, Will's plans go badly wrong, with Caesar having to be placed in an animal facility for primates, run by John Landon (Brian Cox).