Sci-Fi Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

[Luigi]

Excellent news!

 

[scarlet-witch]

I loved the last trilogy so much I think it will be hard to adjust to something without Caesar. I just got so invested in him and his family.

 

[Pennywise]

Wes Ball Gives An Update on His Upcoming 'Planet of the Apes' Continuation - Exclusive Interview | DiscussingFilm

With Planet of the Apes, what can you say about how your film will continue the story of Matt Reeves’ trilogy?

WB: Matt did the last two movies and obviously I worked with Matt on Mouse Guard, he was my producer. I’m trying to figure out what I can say because frankly, for Maze Runner we had these secret codings so we could avoid fans coming in and taking pictures of the set and all that crazy stuff. That’s times a hundred with Planet of the Apes, it’s just a bigger pool that we’re swimming in here. So I have to be careful. But when Mouse Guard fell apart, it was pretty quickly said, “Look we’re not going to do Mouse Guard, but what would you do with The Planet of the Apes?”

We were using the same material, the same kind of technology, we were using a lot of the same people involved – I had asked Andy Serkis to join Mouse Guard. So it was kind of natural fit. I understand where it came from and my big thing was: what do you do for a Planet of the Apessequel? One, those last three movies are one of the great trilogies we have in modern movie history. They are just so well done. They honored the original movies they sprang from, the Charlton Heston movies, but they grounded it in a modern sensibility and it just worked. Caesar is one of the great movie characters that we’ll have throughout time. So what do you do to follow that up, right? At the same time, I wasn’t interested in doing a part four either. We want to also do our own thing.

We have a take. We have a way of staying in the universe that was created before us, but we’re also opening ourselves up in being able to do some really cool new stuff. Again, I’m trying to be careful here. I’ll say this, for fans of the original three don’t worry – you’re in good hands. The original writers and producers that came up with Rise and Dawn, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, they’re also on board with this. Josh Friedman is writing this thing, a lot of the same crew is kind of involved. We will feel like we’re part of that original trilogy, but at the same time we’re able to do some really cool new stuff. It will be really exciting to see on the biggest screen possible.

Before we move on, what can you say about the status of Planet of the Apes?

WB: Well, Planet of the Apes is moving forward and we have a giant art team cranking away on some incredible concept art. We’ve got the screenplay continuing to move forward, that will take the time that it takes and so that’s all good. Planet of the Apes is moving forward baby! Not only that, but we could actually be in virtual production relatively soon because it’s largely a CG movie.

 

[terry78]

Well that pretty much verifies that they won't be doing any prosthetics or costume type things for the apes.

 

[Pennywise]

That pleases me greatly!

 

[terry78]

It will be interesting to see CG versions of the 1968 apes if we get to that point.

 

[Pennywise]

I think that’s very possible as Ball stated he wanted to do something different from Matt’s stuff, and how his take has “really cool new stuff”.

 

[Drizzle]

Wes Ball Gives An Update on His Upcoming 'Planet of the Apes' Continuation - Exclusive Interview | DiscussingFilm

I completely forgot that Reeves didn't direct Rise of the Planet of the Apes and I guess that reporter did too. It's a shame because Rise is a really good film but Reeves just elevated the sequels to the next level that it's easy to label them as his trilogy.

 

[Pennywise]

I completely forgot that Reeves didn't direct Rise of the Planet of the Apes and I guess that reporter did too. It's a shame because Rise is a really good film but Reeves just elevated the sequels to the next level that it's easy to label them as his trilogy.

I also forget that Rupert Wyatt directed Rise, which is pretty underrated.

 

[Pennywise]

Hoping that Wes Ball attempts to get Andy Serkis a role!

 

[Drizzle]

I also forget that Rupert Wyatt directed Rise, which is pretty underrated.

Not a lot of people expected it to do well and had low expectations for it (myself included), but it was a pleasant surprise and turned out to be one of the best films of 2011. It only got better from there.

And I'd bet that Serkis will at the very least have a cameo in the new movie(s).

 

[Pennywise]

Then again, it wouldn’t be surprising as Andy was part of the cast for Mouse Guard.

 

[Sawyer]

My best guess would be they jump forward to the point at or near that of the original movie where the apes have full speech and have built their own society.

And if that’s the case, switch things up where Serkis is concerned. Don’t make him the protagonist. Make him the Dr. Zaius.

 

[DarkKnight88]

They should stick closer to the book in making the Ape society technologically more advanced than ours.

Though, in the book, it didn't take place on Earth and ends similarly like the Tim Burton film.

 

[Pennywise]

They should stick closer to the book in making the Ape society technologically more advanced than ours.

Though, in the book, it didn't take place on Earth and ends similarly like the Tim Burton film.

That sounds pretty cool!

 

[antsman41]

...just spent all day, doing a binge of the trilogy. It truly is the best trilogy we’ve had since Back To The Future. Caesar is also the most tragic and greatest character in cinema since I can remember.

These films are just so wonderful, I still wish ‘Dawn’ was titled ‘War’ and maybe had dwelled more into the post-Human aspect, but Caesar’s arc was very much hindered on that notion.

My new ratings for the trilogy;

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
[...5/5]
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
[4.5/5]
War For The Planet Of The Apes
[...5/5]

Rise) Even though Franco isn’t wonderful in the first film, the heart and magic of Caesar is just stunning.

Dawn) Really came around on the humans this time, especially Clarke. Also, **** Koba.

War) Somehow Woody pulls off this Kurtz-style character who’s avenging against Apes... also, the level the technology peaked in this one is astonishing - can’t believe how good the snow/wet cgi they did in this was.

 

[Pennywise]

New 'Planet of the Apes' Movie From Director Wes Ball Aiming to Begin Production This Year

 

[Snow Queen]

New 'Planet of the Apes' Movie From Director Wes Ball Aiming to Begin Production This Year

Looking at his filmography, he's only directed three Maze Runner movies and got announced for a movie called The Time Runner, so I have to assume this will continue in this trend of his films and be called The Apes Runner.

 

[Marvolo]

New 'Planet of the Apes' Movie From Director Wes Ball Aiming to Begin Production This Year

Going from Reeves to Wes Ball...thats one hell of a step down.

 

[samsnee]

If Serkis isn’t in, then it’s a pass

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Going from Reeves to Wes Ball...thats one hell of a step down.

Reeves is on of the best directors working today and I thought that after the last Apes movie. War was fantastic. So it’s a bit of a harsh comparison IMO.

I did like the Maze Runner movies though so willing to give Ball a chance.

 

[Prison Mike]

I found War to be pretty boring. I was expecting to see an actual war…instead I fell asleep in the theater.

 

[CB Fan]

I liked the maze runner films and Wes Ball was able to make them look and feel high budget even though they weren’t. Give him a good script and I think he’ll do well.

 

[DarkKnight88]

I liked the first one. And yeah, he did a lot with that budget. But man, those sequels were a slog. Kind of hard to know what else he can do when he hasn’t ventured out of that franchise yet.

That said, I hope they set it closer to the 1968 film far into the future where apes are already dominate. Maybe in futuristic cities like the book.

 

[CB Fan]

I really hope this is successful so that maybe he can get enough clout to circle back around to that Mouse Guard movie.