Freida Pinto in ‘Planet Of The Apes’ prequel

Freida Pinto has signed on to star in the new ‘Planet Of The Apes’ movie as ‘Spider-Man’ hunk James Franco”s leading lady.

Franco is the star of the latest installment in the sci-fi series, Rise of the Apes, which will be a prequel to the franchise”s previous monkey movies, reports the Daily Star.

According to Variety, the Slumdog Millionaire will play primatologist Caroline, with funnyman John Lithgow drafted in to play Franco”s onscreen father.

The new movie is the re-imagining of the original 1968 sci-fi classic and Tim Burton”s 2001 remake had Mark Wahlberg in the lead.