POTA was spawned during the Cold War when it seemed possible we could end civilization with the push of a nuclear button (the Chuck Heston movie came out a little over 5 years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, the closest we've come to nuclear war). Nukes were in the back of everybody's mind. These days we don't really think about it because, well, we reduced the number of nukes and they are pointed toward the sea in case of accidents (but can be aimed in minutes).

But last night's "60 Minutes" did a story called "The New Cold War" and the more things change, the more they stay the same. According to former Secretary of Defense William Perry, we still have more than enough nukes to end civilization and they are still just minutes from reaching us. As Perry says, "Fundamentally, nothing has changed". I kind of knew that but it's still chilling to hear it as a matter of fact. So while we worry about climate change and Nu Apes uses a virus to reach the same conclusion, the original POTA scenario is still too legit to quit.

Part two of the "60 Minutes" story airs next Sunday.

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50 years ago today (according to Heston's diary) Fox gave the greenlight to the original POTA. It took forever as Arthur Jacobs and Mort Abrahams jumped through hoops (including the famed Edward G. Robinson makeup test). But it wuz worth it. Apparently the success of "Fantastic Voyage" saved the day.

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Next summer's "War For the POTA" will premiere the first footage at New York Comic Con on Oct. 6 with director Matt Reeves, star Andy Serkis and producer Dylan Clarke in attendance. Will we get a teaser trailer thereabouts? Dunno, but Nu Apes' favorite showcase, "The Walking Dead" premieres it's new season soon.

Fox also provided a synopsis for the movie. Sounds like Caesar's in a bad way, as he "wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. Sounds bad for Caesar, good for us!

collider.com/war-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-synopsis

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Today will see the first footage of "War For the POTA" unveiled at NY Comic-Con, but already here's an ad for the film. No actual footage but it's still "blow away". What it means is open to interpretation.

slashfilm.com/war-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-teaser

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The footage and Q & A of "War For the POTA" tonight in New York sounds good. There was about 10 minutes of footage (including a scene with rough animation showing the apes raiding a human compound that got a good audience reaction).

From the Q & A it sounds like what we expect; the humans have pushed Caesar too far and it looks like the planet of the apes proper is on the way. Andy Serkis called the film "the most psychologically intense and physically challenging part of this (3 movie) arc". Dylan Clark sez, "It is our biggest movie". What did you expect, they'd say they were lazy and phoned it in?

Sounds like the main event of the movie is ape Caesar vs. human Woody Harrelson as the Colonel. Serkis commented: "Caesar and the Colonel are kind of drawn to each other… there's this bizarre connection".

Also shown was a teaser trailer, which perhaps we'll also get to see soon. Anyway, the ape is out of the bag. Serkis is also scheduled to do a Q & A about his career/his Ape films tomorrow, Friday.

deadline.com/2016/10/war-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-new-york-comic-con-andy-serkis-fox-1201832366/

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From the descriptions of the "War For the POTA" teaser shown Thursday it sounds like a good'n. Plenty of clips to stress the conflict between Caesar and Woody Harrelson (reportedly almost 2 minutes worth). And supposedly Woody even sez the magic words "planet of the apes". It sounds like it won't be just another "I need to speak to Caesar!" affair.

So when do we get to see it? A little bird (er, twitter) told me that the director said we'll get it "soon". What's soon? Some star, a galaxy? What's "soon"? AaaH! Alright! I know it!

Why not release it now? It's ready to be seen, it's acclaimed. Perhaps they are waiting for their fave showcase, "The Walking Dead" to return on Oct. 23? So far they've used the "Dead" twice, to hype up a "Dawn" trailer and to announce their "Be an Ape" contest. So it might be. Oct. 23 is not a lot to ask to hear Woody say, "planet of the apes", is it? Plus I'm catching up with "The Walking Dead" for the first time this month so it's all good.

Here's hoping "War" will take "Dead"ly aim.

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