War For The Planet Of The Apes Bringing Back A Crucial Character

OK, so the director tweeted that this is the title of the new movie. I like it: no 2 "of the"s, kind of a nod to Battle's title (but more epic sounding). So far there's been one photo tweeted (a beach shot, which got fans' minds racing). They started shooting in October in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve (Vancouver), especially Ucluelet and Tofino and on the local beaches. Joan Miller, the local film commissioner, said: "There was a huge list of epic locations – there wasn't a back road or waterfall we missed". She also noted the beaches were a key location: "Those are the iconic beaches we shot "Twilight" on". Sounds like so far this month they've been staying indoors on sets.

The cast: I'm digging Woody Harrelson, which takes it full circle for me to 20 years ago when Oliver Stone was going to do POTA. There had been nobodies trying to get it made (Peter Jackson, Adam Rifkin) but Stone's name really kicked it into high gear. He was directing "Natural Born Killers" (starring Harrelson) at the time and his producers were the ones who got him on board "Apes" (fun fact: POTA gets a mention half way through NBK on a loudspeaker in the jail cafeteria scene). Things didn't work out but I've always considered that Ground Zero for Nu Apes. I've always liked Harrelson, he's shown he's a good actor (a Best Actor nomination for the Stone-produced "People vs. Larry Flynt") and he's got sci-fi franchise cred from "The Hunger Games". He just played the title role in Rob Reiner's "LBJ" (the U. S. prez when the original POTA came out) and if he can pull that off Oscar might be calling again.

Harrelson is by far the biggest name in the cast (probably bigger than Andy's). But there's also Steve Zahn playing an ape (he was in 1994's "Reality Bites", which had the first modern "Apes" reference in pop culture that I recall, outside of "Do the Right Thing"). There's also the familiar ape cast and some newbies, including young Amiah Miller, presumably playing the mentioned "wild" human child.

Story: It's being kept under wraps but are there any clues based on it's production title "Hidden Fortress"? That's the name of the Kurosawa film that gave the original "Star Wars" some of it's plot. The first shot of Gary Oldman in "Dawn" is a direct lift from Kurosawa, so the title is not coincidence. There's been no official mention this is the last Caesar film but it feels that way (and is probably necessary). If it's late in Caesar's life things could be different from "Dawn". The beach and the "wild child" suggest hints of the original. But they're not talkin'.

So far I'm pleased with how things are going with the movie as Matt Reeves joins J. Lee Thompson as the only directors to do more than one POTA movie. They have more time than any POTA film has ever had and we'll see the result in 2017.

While watching an early version of his pal Matt Reeves' "Dawn of the POTA", "Star Wars 7" director J. J. Abrams decided to hire Andy Serkis as the movie's motion capture guru and also cast him as one of only two motion capture characters. Not too risky a choice considering Andy's iconic status as motion capture actor ("Lord of the Rings", "King Kong", "Ape" something). He also has his own motion capture studio, the Imaginarium.

So anyway, the movie comes out next month and now Andy is talking about his secret character (who sounds awesome and probably won't be unveiled until the movie). He says it's the first character he's done where he's been on set and how no idea about it's look or sound. Indeed, the character continued to be worked on in post-production, with Andy being directed long distance (as he does with "Apes").

There's still no pictures of Snoke (not even on the avalanche of merchandise that is already out). But Andy has given some tidbits to "Entertainment Weekly" (fun fact: the interview took place on the set of "War For the POTA"). Andy: "Supreme Leader Snoke is quite an enigmatic character and strangely vulnerable at the same time as being quite powerful… He has suffered a lot of damage".

Director Abrams has tried to go as old school as possible, with makeup and sets, built creature, locations, etc. (but he'd be crazy not to use the advantages of CG when necessary). Andy sez only 2 characters are motion captured, Snoke and the pirate Maz Kanata. In both cases they couldn't have been done with makeup: "The scale of him, for instance, is one reason. He is large. He appears tall. And also just the facial design – you couldn't have gotten there with prosthetics. It's too extreme… he has a very distinctive, idiosyncratic bone structure and facial structure. You could never have done it". Sounds cool, but he could also be describing Jar Jar Binks. We'll know if they got it right in a month.

ew.com/article/2015/11/12/star-wars-%20andy-serkis-supreme-leader-snoke

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The director of the next Apes film has tweeted there will be an "announcement" during "The Walking Dead" on Sunday. Whatever that means. It seems too early for a TV commercial. But I'm game.

The official logo for the film was also released.

Collider.com/war-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-logo-trailer

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That's just the way it's done these days. Corporate. The fans are the ones who do the interesting stuff now.

I'm a big fan of the redo of "Battlestar Galactica" from a decade ago. It felt similar to POTA to me (sci-fi social commentary with the rough edges intact). As I've said before it even has some POTA references, thanks to it's main producer being a POTA fan.

So it's fun to see that Alessandro Julian has joined the cast of "War For the POTA" as a character named Spear. In BSG he played Gaeta, kind of the Sulu of the show (though it becomes more complicated). His character even got his own song that he performed, "Gaeta's Lament".

youtube.com/watch?v=NY3gY48pxjA

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Gaeta

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Maybe I give a damn about the cast for a POTA movie more than most but I do. If "War" had a cast that I didn't care about, so be it. But that's not the case. I will now explain, and if you don't give a (CENSORED!) that's fine.

For starters, the ape cast is pretty much the same as "Rise" and "Dawn": Andy Serkis as Caesar, Judy Greer as his wife Cornelia, Karin Konoval as Maurice the orangutan, and Terry Notary as Rocket (as well as being the resident ape movement expert). What's interesting is that Caesar's kids Blue Eyes (Nick Thurston) and Milo (well, CGI) are absent so far.

Steve Zahn (ape) - Not a celebrated actor but he has a lot of fun credits. For me his main stuff is "Reality Bites" (with a POTA nod), "Out of Sight", "Saving Silverman", "Rescue Dawn", and the Oscar winner "Dallas Buyer's Club". He also does a voice in the current Pixar film "The Good Dinosaur". I think the main thing is people have a hard time, based on his previous work, seeing him as an ape. But I think he's in the same camp as another "War" participant, Woody Harrelson; people have certain perceptions of both but they always surprise us apes.

Woody Harrelson (human, "the Colonel") – I've been a huge Oliver Stone fan forever. I was there opening night for "Platoon" when it was a big ticket item at the last moment but only played around 6 theaters nationally. So I wuz thrilled when Apes fan Michael Helen told me in 1993 that Stone was going to do a new POTA movie. He had made successful movies based on the Vietnam War, Wall Street and the JFK assassination, so I figured he'd have free reign to do a POTA movie that mattered.

What does that have to do with Woody Harrelson? Well, it turns out the big POTA fans were Stone's "Natural Born Killers" producers (yes, the movie that starred Harrelson) and they kind of side-swiped Stone to be part of it. He really wasn't into it, as he told me in 1996, and, indeed, he turned down the chance to be the director of "Rise" (according to director Rupert Wyatt). But at the time it was heaven: a new POTA movie under the "take no prisoners" Oliver Stone?

So Woody reminds me of those days because he starred in "Natural Born Killers" (as well as the Stone – produced "The People vs. Larry Flynt" two years later, which got him a Best Actor Oscar nomination). Of course, Woody is so much more than that. I'll go head to head with anybody who wants to suggest Woody isn't a great actor. Waiting in the wings is his performance in the title role of "LBJ"(the U.S. prez when the original POTA movie came out) under the direction of Rob Reiner. It seems like an unlikely role for him but if he nails it Oscar might be here to stay.

Fun fact: "Dawn" actors that played assassins for Oliver Stone include Gary Oldman (Lee Harvey Oswald in "JFK") and Toby "Koba" Kebbell (who killed Alexander the Great's dad in "Alexander").

Alessando Juliani (Spear) – I've long been an advocate here for the "Battlestar Galactica" redo 10 years ago. Very POTA feel to me, and probably not a coincidence considering the main producer is a POTA fan and even talks about it in the commentary tracks. I wuz long hoping that Katee "the Harbinger of Death" Sackhoff would get the nod but it wasn't to be. Instead it's Gaeta, who didn't have a direct POTA connection but still rocked. Fun fact: the helicopter pilot in "Rise" also had a significant BSG connection.

Amiah Miller – Her role is of interest. There was talk of a "wild human child" and presumably that's her. Is it an end of film coda? Or is she a taste of future humanity throughout the film?

Here's some interesting stuff from the director of the TV episode "The Tyrant". Thanx to Eric Greene for pointing it out.

senensky.com/the-tyrant

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2016 is the Year of the Monkey on Chinese calendars (actually it starts Feb. 8^th , the anniversary of the original POTA movie, which also came out in the Year of the Monkey). POTA seems pretty much dead this year except what news we get from "War For the POTA". So we're pretty much on our own to celebrate. Happy New Year!

Fun fact: 7/18/16 is the day the apes monkey on the Golden Gate Bridge (according to the newspaper in "Rise").

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Amiah Miller might be the luckiest girl on the POTA. She reportedly acted for two weeks in the new Ape movie for $65,000. Presumably she played the wild human child that has been mentioned, so two weeks gives a hint of the extent of the role. Maybe it is a coda at the end showing the future (a la "Battle")?

h2ostandard.com/war-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-kid-star-sweet-payday-for-two-weeks-work-14

The "War For the POTA" gang is reportedly scheduled to go back to work today (1/5) after their holiday hiatus. YVR Shoots has a nice look at the main outdoor set, an ape prison.

yvrshoots.com/2016/01/big-budget-the-great-ape-escape-at-war-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-set-in-richmond.html.VovRuzbSm1s

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Let's try this (Windows 10 is a madhouse! A madhouse!!).

yvrshoots.com/2016/01/big-budget-the-great-ape-escape-at-war-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-prison-set-in-richmond.html

Fox is doing a junket today (1/13) on the set of "War For the POTA" for movie news websites (Aint It Cool News, Slashfilm, etc.). We won't get to read their reports until 2017 but it's happening now (per twitter).

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Congrats to "Mad Max: Fury Road" for 9 Oscar nominations this morning, second only to "The Revenant" for most noms, including Best Picture and Best Director. So what? It's hard enough for sci-fi to get respect with those folks, let alone the same subgenre that POTA is in (apocalyptic sci-fi franchise).

The "Mad Max" films were my surrogate POTA in the '80's. Like "Apes", they were a continuing story about life after we did it to ourselves, hard-edged, and treated the B movie material with respect. I can't think of another movie franchise that's as much like "Apes", so this is cool.

It doesn't have a chance in hell of winning the big prize, but if it does it'll be the first sci-fi Best Picture ever. Good luck, Max!

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Andy Serkis tweeted a photo with the "Be An Ape" contest winner – Roxanne!

Tell us about it, Sting!

twitter.com/andyserkis/status/688123716836786177

At first I thought Caesar's son wouldn't be in "War" because I didn't see Nick Thurston in the cast. But it turns out Max Lloyd-Jones is playing "Blue Eyes" this time. Thurston did a good job in "Dawn" so I don't know what the deal is. The new POTA has generally kept the same ape actors in the roles, except for Koba, who was played by a stuntman in "Rise".

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They're still reportedly shooting until March 8 (also the 50^th anniversary of the Edward G. makeup test) but it sounds like the new Apes will have their wrap party this weekend. Probably cutting loose some folks (maybe Woody Harrelson) and keeping it more streamlined for the last 3 weeks. They've sure kept this one under wraps.

twitter.com/yvrshoots/status/698257563796660224

Director Matt Reeves reports that principal photography is finished 4 "War For the POTA".

twitter.com/mattreevesLA/status/703405185591173120

twitter.com/mattreevesLA/status/703405524918775808

THOMAS: "Dr. Zaius, hasn't it occurred to you that back on Earth Man has become civilized, finally civilized? I'm proof of that, proof that Man's reached out for the stars! For the first time in the history of mankind, maybe the history of the universe, Man is not a destroyer, not any more".

ZAIUS: "Were that the indeed truth, we've come close to a millennium. But this planet cannot afford to take that risk".

Fifty years ago today (3/8/66) the famous Edward G. Robinson makeup test was filmed as a last ditch effort to get the first POTA movie financed by Fox. It impressed the powers that be that a scene with talking apes could be made that was anything other than a comedy. It still wasn't the end of the convincing (POTA wasn't greenlighted until late September, the same month "Star Trek" premiered) but it's often considered the turning point.

And for fans it's a tangible piece of history. Long just a legend, I was thrilled to get a bootleg copy in 1991. Now of course it seems a given on any video release of the film. It's the only direct adaptation of Boulle's book (with unexpurgated Rod Serling!) and a taste of what might have been.

Robinson pulled out of the movie for health reasons in September (he bid a sweet farewell to his career in the Heston sci-fi flick "Soylent Green"). Besides Heston, Linda Harrison (as Zira!) and director Schaffner there's lots of different folks working on this. James Brolin and Edward G. didn't make it to the movie. Ben Nye did the makeup (great at the time but primitive now). The music is from John Williams' "Lost in Space" (maybe it's appropriate in an Edward G. Robinson test to have music from the family Robinson).

In the end this is a treasured footnote to the movie but it's anniversary marks the start of the countdown to the 50^th anniversary of the movie proper in less than 2 years. Here's to Edward G. and the gang.

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The movie trailer for the remake of "Ben-Hur" has arrived. For those who wonder what that has to do with anything, let me explain: there was an actor named Charlton Heston who was known for a) POTA; b) playing Moses; c) winning the Oscar for "Ben-Hur" (1959). As we know, the revamped POTA is a big attraction in theaters; Moses was recently revived by the POTA producers as "Exodus: Gods and Kings" (2014). And now, "Ben-Hur" is slated to return in August, with the Lawgiver's grandson (Jack Houston) in the title role and Toby "Koba" Kebbell as Messala. Just sayin'.

collider.com/ben-hur-remake-trailer

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"Dawn of the POTA", "War For the POTA" director Matt Reeves has announced on twitter that his dad died today. Condolences to the guy who's keeping the faith of our fave franchise. I've been there and I know others here have too.

A father's death was significant to both POTA2001 and "Rise" (roles played by Charlton Heston and John Lithgow), and both Tim Burton and Danny Elfman lost their fathers while making POTA2001. "War" will presumably wrap up Caesar's story and I can imagine the theme of passing the mantle will play a part. Perhaps Matt's tragedy will inform the movie in unexpected and beneficial ways.

George Churchill Reeves, Jr. 12/9/37 – 3/24/16

"Dawn of the POTA", "War For the POTA" director Matt Reeves has announced on twitter that his dad died today. Condolences to the guy who's keeping the faith of our fave franchise. I've been there and I know others here have too.

A father's death was significant to both POTA2001 and "Rise" (roles played by Charlton Heston and John Lithgow), and both Tim Burton and Danny Elfman lost their fathers while making POTA2001. "War" will presumably wrap up Caesar's story and I can imagine the theme of passing the mantle will play a part. Perhaps Matt's tragedy will inform the movie in unexpected and beneficial ways.

George Churchill Reeves, Jr. 12/9/37 – 3/24/16

Here's an obit on the late father of POTA director Matt Reeves. He was a lawyer, an exec for Hollywood-related companies and also a writer/producer (the 1981 TV movie "Crazy Times"). But his greatest passion seems to have been animals and their protection. Not a bad legacy for someone whose son is director-in-residence of the new POTA films.

deadline.com/2016/04/George-c-reeves-jr-dies-matt-reeves-1201732508

When will this madness end?