We've seen the rise of the apes. We've seen them dawn on a new era for the planet. Only now, however, has the war begun. Production has officially started on the upcoming War For The Planet of the Apes, and thanks to director Matt Reeves we now have our rather epic first look:
Reeves posted this image on his personal Twitter account, and it's really a perfect way to kick off production. It's hard to identify either of the figures in the picture due to the shot's silhouette style, but our fingers are crossed that at least one of the those motion capture suit-wearing actors is Andy Serkis, who has been confirmed to return in his role as the apes leader Caeser in the new film.
There are many reasons that this is a perfect first look at production on the third chapter of the rebooted Planet of the Apes franchise - one of the most notable being that it's simply a beautiful shot from a very talented filmmaker. Beyond that though, any fan has to appreciate that there is something significant in the franchise about the imagery of a horse walking on a beach:
Looking at Matt Reeves' Tweet beyond just the image, there is another tiny element to discuss. Instead of identifying the project by a title, he merely refers to the next Planet of the Apes movie as "#It." We've been hearing for months now that the title of the film would be either War For The Planet Of The Apes or War Of The Planet Of The Apes - and while that's a logical step name-wise after the events of Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, evidently 20th Century Fox and the production is not yet ready to commit to it. Why? Who knows at this point. But it's strange that the project still doesn't quite have an official title just yet.
At this point, not much is known about War For The Planet Of The Apes plot-wise, but it is going into production with a script by Matt Reeves and Mark Bomback, and a talented ensemble. Joining Andy Serkis in this cast this time around will be Woody Harrelson - as a character merely known right now as "Colonel" - young actor Gabriel Chavarria, and Steve Zahn. We can expect production on the sequel to continue for the next few months (hopefully providing some regular behind-the-scenes looks), but we'll have to wait a while to see the finished result, what with the July 14, 2017 release date and all.
