In a world full of huge franchises, one of the most unlikely successes has been Fox’sPlanet of the Apesreboot series. WithWar for the Planet of the Apeslooming, all eyes are on the third installment of this critically beloved and commercially successful series. With the movie just a couple of months away, a brand new photo from the movie has surfaced, showcasingWoody Harrelson’s new villain looking really awesome and ready for battle.
The new photo comes courtesy ofEntertainment Weeklyand shows us Harrelson standing next to a Silverback Gorilla who has teamed up with the humans to take on Ceasar and his super-intelligent band of apes. Somehow, Woody Harrelson manages to look very imposing next to said gorilla, which is pretty impressive. DirectorMatt Reevesspoke with EW a bit about the movie and, part of the reasonWar for the Planet of the Apesmay looks so good is that Fox actually gave he and writer Mark Bomback the time they needed to get it right. Here is what he had to say about it.
“They actually gave us time. Mark and I began by doing the thing everybody thinks writers do, but they don’t, because there’s never time. We talked about our lives. We talked about history stories. And then we watched a lot of movies.”
The trailers forWar for the Planet of the Apeshave promised a very dark, gorgeous looking and action packed third installment of the franchise. Even though it isapes fighting humans, it really looks like it will be more of a true war movie more than it will be a sci-fi movie. That makes sense when hearing what movies influenced this newPlanet of the Apesmovie, according to Matt Reeves, who revealed what he and Mark Bomback watched in order to prepare.
“We watchedBridge on the River Kwai. We watchedThe Great Escape. We watched Biblical epics, because I really felt like this movie had to have a Biblical aspect to it. We watchedBen-Hur,The Ten Commandments. We didn’t go, like, ‘Let’s take a little bit of this, a little bit of that.’ When you surround yourself with something that feels emotionally right, there are connections that make sense to you that somebody else might not see…[the films] informed the vibe we felt about this thing.”
War for the Planet of the Apeswill center on Caesar and his apes being forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel, played by Woody Harrelson. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, which has been heavily teased in the trailers, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins this own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face,Caesar and the Colonelare pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet. It turns out that the religious epics that they watched to prepare for the movie will also have some influence.
The movie is totally about his mythic ascension. The battle for his soul that cements his position as the key figure in early Ape history. You can imagine the story of him would inspire religions."
The movie stars Woody Harrelson, Judy Greer,Steve Zahn, Sara Canning, Ty Olsson, Terry Notary, Max Lloyd-Jones and Andy Serkis.War for the Planet of the Apesis directed byMatt Reevesand is set for release on July 14. Be sure to check out the brand new photo from the movie for yourself below.
