Top 10 Planet of The Apes Reboot Facts

#10: Pet Sounds

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Although the previous film series used the now iconic ape makeup, which earned John Chambers an honorary Oscar, we can all agree that for the reboots, makeup would not cut it. The 21st century series therefore took advantage of the insane technological advancements available today, and employed revolutionary motion-capture techniques to bring the ape uprising to life. While we know that Caesar, Koba and their crew are CGI, audiences may not realize how they’re given a voice: most of the grunts, growls and snarls you hear were recorded at Chimp Haven, a chimpanzee sanctuary. Those sounds were then mixed together with vocalizations by talented actors like Andy Serkis, resulting in ape voices that are both emotive and animalistic.

Hollywood is no stranger to tie-in merchandise for major studio productions and blockbusters. Lucky for all you gamers out there, renowned motion-capture artist and actor Andy Serkis let it slip at New York Comic-Con in October 2016 that there was supposed to be a video game to accompany the third film in the franchise, “War for the Planet of the Apes.” As Serkis explained it, he was recording motion capture segments specifically for the game, which would feel like an interactive movie. But sadly, while he’d mentioned the game would be released around the same time as the summer 2017 blockbuster, there’d been no more word on the subject by the time the film hit theaters.

#8: The Return of the Simian Flu

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The Simian Flu gave apes their intelligence, and almost wiped out the human race. As seen in the first film, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” the ALZ drug it resulted from was originally developed to combat Alzheimer’s. Unfortunately, things went south very quickly, and now we have apes on horseback with machineguns. The producers told IGN that in the third film, the virus has mutated and will be making a big comeback. They didn’t reveal much, however they did explain that the flu continued to affect both humans and apes in various ways, now 12 years after the initial outbreak.

#7: Epic Scope

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Director Matt Reeves had epic plans for the third film in the new “Apes” franchise. Taking a cue from Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight,” Reeves decided to shoot “War for the Planet of the Apes” in 65mm. According to Reeves’ team, the idea was the give the film the grandiose and sweeping scope of epic westerns or historical dramas, a huge inspiration being David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia.” This style would be required to correctly capture the desolate and breathtaking landscapes of the film, as well as the huge battle sequences we should be expecting.

The original series included five feature films and two short-lived TV series, and – of course – the filmmakers behind the new franchise are fans. This can be seen in many homages and Easter Eggs, most notably in certain character names. A great example in “War for the Planet of the Apes” is the name given to the human rebel group, “Alpha-Omega.” Big Ape fans may recognize this as the name of the bomb that’s worshipped by the underground mutants in the original sequel, “Beneath the Planet of the Apes.” It’s an especially fitting name for this group of humans, as Alpha and Omega represent the beginning and the end, and these humans think they represent that for the human race.

#5: Unique Marketing Campaigns

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Shooting for the latest entry began in late 2015 with an expected summer 2016 release; however, the release date pushed back a year to summer 2017. With three years between releases, a franchise needs to keep its fanbase engaged. Viral marketing was employed for the first films in the series: fake Public Service announcements were released, as were videos of apes doing remarkable things – like the now-infamous clip of the monkey taking control of a machinegun. For “War for the Planet of the Apes,” however, filmmakers announced a contest allowing fans to don motion-capture suits on set and join the uprising themselves.

One of the reboot series’ more interesting characters is the cruelly treated Koba. His inclusion shows a contrasting perspective on the human/ape relationship to Caesar’s, who grew up in a loving human home. Koba’s scheming and manipulating is on full display in the second film, where he tries his best to get the apes to adopt his hatred and fear of humans, and to attack them. Not by accident, Koba was named after political theorist and communist revolutionary Joseph Stalin, who adopted the nickname “Koba” from one of his favorite books, “The Patricide.” The character of Koba in this book is a bandit who – appropriately – believes in vengeance, fights for the poor, and shows contempt for authority.

#3: It’s Not Over Yet…

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As early as October 2016, almost a year before we would be able to see the third film in the franchise, it was confirmed that a fourth film was already being developed. It seems that the success of the series had the studio and production team confident enough to already begin thinking about what the next film would be. Director Matt Reeves and producer Dylan Clark confirmed with Slashfilm during an interview that they already have some concrete ideas about where the story will go following “War for the Planet of the Apes,” hinting that Caesar has a lot of character development ahead of him.

#2: …In Fact, There’s No End in Sight

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When “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” was announced, audiences were a bit skeptical. Not only is the common belief that classics should not be messed with, but the 2001 Tim Burton remake garnered a lot of negative criticism. Therefore the huge critical and box office success of “Rise” was a welcome surprise, as was the above-average sequel a few years later. When the third movie was announced, the production team stressed that this will not be a trilogy. Although the idea is to eventually link this prequel series to the original 1968 film, producer Dylan Clark confirmed with Den of Geek that they still have many stories to tell.

#1: Rise of the Ape-ocalypse

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According to the team behind “War for the Planet of the Apes,” including Andy Serkis himself, we can expect quite a brutal film, with some cataclysmic events plaguing Serkis’s Caesar. As the title implies, we are moving away from rebellions and closer to all-out war. Therefore, with the plot mapped out, it seems like the classic war film “Apocalypse Now” was a major influence on the themes and styles of this summer blockbuster. As producer Dylan Clark has explained, the insane Colonel Kurtz, played by Marlon Brando in “Apocalypse Now,” was a direct influence on Woody Harrelson’s military leader of the human faction. With the Colonel on one side and Caesar on the other, this should be quite the war.