Andy Serkis' Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Oscars chance in doubt, says Gary Oldman

The Academy has yet to honour performance capture acting at the awards

Andy Serkis as leader of the apes Caesar (AP)

Gary Oldman has cast doubt over his Dawn of the Planet of the Apes co-star Andy Serkis’ Oscars chances.

The 56-year-old actor loaded praise onto Serkis, who plays Caesar, but is unsure whether his performance will be met with triumph at the next Academy Awards.

“He’s mentioned (in contention),” Oldman told Digital Spy. “There isn’t a review that hasn’t said how wonderful he is. The audiences and critics acknowledge the work but I just don’t know if it’s the sort of thing that the Academy will accept.”

Serkis portrays the ape leader through advanced performance capture technology but the form of acting has yet to be honoured at the Oscars.

“He’s one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with, I think he’s amazing,” added director Matt Reeves. “If you’re responding emotionally to Caesar, you’re responding emotionally to Andy as he’s giving that emotional performance.”

Keri Russell argued that Serkis’ acting style in the movie “shouldn’t be separate” from more traditional forms. “It’s Andy, his every nuance,” she said. “He’s just a great actor.”

The official film synopsis reads: “A growing nation of genetically-evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier.

“They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth’s dominant species.”

Complaints were sparked when the movie’s final trailer, featuring gun violence, was aired during a World Cup semi-final match last week.

One scene sees an ape pretends to befriend two humans sitting on a sofa before stealing a machine gun and shooting one of them dead, leaving the other to plead for his life.

One Twitter user described the graphic clip as “crass, gratuitous, ill-timed and irresponsibly violent” while another was left “shocked”.

Fans can catch Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in UK cinemas from today.