Over the weekend, director Matt Reeves revealed that production has begun on War for the Planet of the Apes, which has been set for release on July 14, 2017. Today, we have word from The Hollywood Reporter that actress Judy Greer has signed on to return in the sequel, reprising her role as the ape Cornelia from last year's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The site also reports that Karin Konoval will also return from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes as Maurice, "the orangutan with a gentle soul."

Andy Serkis is back as the ape leader Caesar, with Gabriel Chavarria set to star in one of the lead roles. Woody Harrelson is portraying the human villain and Steve Zahn will portray a new war ape. No story details have been confirmed quite yet, but director Matt Reeves said last year that War of the Planet of the Apes will not feature a huge jump in time. Last year's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was set 15 years after 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but this new adventure will take place shortly after the events of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Judy Greer's Cornelia primarily communicated through American Sign Language, and served as a peaceful influence for Andy Serkis' Caesar. The apes evolved a great deal between Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, but that was over a period of several years. While it's possible that Cornelia might actually learn to speak like Caesar and a few other apes, since not much time has passed between the last two films, it isn't known if that will happen.

Matt Reeves is directing from a script he co-wrote with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes writer Mark Bomback. The studio has set a July 14, 2017 release date for War for the Planet of the Apes, which is currently the only movie scheduled for release on that date. However, the sequel will be sandwiched between two highly-anticipated productions, Disney's long-awaited sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (July 7, 2017) and Warner Bros.' Untitled Christopher Nolan Movie 2017 (July 21, 2017).

Judy Greer most recently starred in box office hits Jurassic World and Ant-Man this summer. She will next be seen in Addicted to Fresno, Wilson and Measure of a Man. The actress also stars on the FX comedy series Married, which just wrapped up its second season earlier this month. Are you looking forward to the return of Cornelia in War for the Planet of the Apes?