War for the Planet of the Apes trailer
War for the Planet of the Apes is an upcoming sci-fi film directed by Matt Reeves. It is the third installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot series. The film stars Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson and Judy Greer. The film will be distributed by 20th Century Fox and is scheduled for release on July 14th, 2017.
Looking first to the plot of the film. The title of the film, suggests that the movie will feature the final battle between humans and apes for dominion over earth.
The plot is rumored to be the following “The Lawgiver: Maurice tells the story of when Caesar stands tall at dawn before his family and a kneeling mass of apes, ready to lead them into war. Caesar must protect all the apes from the military soldiers on their way to end the war, amongst the apes downfall. Caesar and some apes return to Gen-Sys to investigate what caused the 113 spread, with the help of Malcolm, Alexander and Ellie. This investigation sends only Caesar to return to his old house. Just as the last war is about to begin, some of those who survived, join all the apes to fight the military, with a few of the apes being killed. The Apes are victories at war. Caesar then lets most of the apes climb back to the muir woods and provides the surviving military soldiers with the option to accompany him back to the woods to serve as slaves or be killed.Caesar is then followed back to the woods by many humans. The film ends going back to the Lawgiver: Maurice giving his history lesson to both ape and human children some 100 years in the future, with a nearby statue of Caesar being visible.
According to an International Business Times article written by Sachin Trivedi, the events taking place in the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, left no doubt in Caesar’s mind that humans will seek revenge against the apes. It is speculated that Caesar wishes to lead the apes to “the promised land”, may not make it himself.
Director Matt Reeves apparently wants Caesar to become the Bible’s Moses in the upcoming movie, stating in an interview that; “It’s going to be an epic story. I think you’ve probably read that I sort of described it where in the first film was very much about his rise from humble beginnings to being a revolutionary. The second movie was about having to rise to the challenge of being a great leader in the most difficult of times. This is going to be the story that is going to cement his status as a seminal figure in ape history, and sort of leads to an almost biblical status. He is going to become like a mythic ape figure, like Moses”.
Looking now to the cast for the film.
The cast for the Apes include;
Andy Serkis as Caesar
Steve Zahn
Judy Greer as Cornelia
Karin Konoval as Maurice
Aleks Paunovic
Sara Canning
Terry Notary as Rocket
The cast for the Humans include;
Woody Harrelson as the Colonel
Gabriel Chavarria as Preacher
Chad Rook as Boyle, and
Amiah Miller
Speculation has it that Milo, Caesar’s son, may return in the film. Koba, voiced by Toby Kebbell might also return in the third film despite having seemingly been killed by Caesar, because at the end of the credits for Dawn had the sounds of Koba, who was breathing heavy, can be heard. Toby Kebbell’s recent statement expressing interest in returning to the role has significantly strengthened the possibility.
Looking now to the production of the film. Principal photography on the film began on October 14, 2015 in the Lower Mainland in Vancouver, under the working title Hidden Fortress. Filming will take place there until early March 2016. Parts of the film are expected to shoot for up to five days in the Kan-ana-skis in late January and early February.
Andy Serkis has suggested that this film may not be the last, stating in an interview with MTV news that; “It might be three films, It could be four. It could be five. Who knows? The journey will continue.”
James Franco will not appear in this film.