Rupert Wyatt on how he would’ve approached Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Rupert Wyatt's RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES was a big hit with critics and audiences alike, and while Fox was keen on having the director return for DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, Wyatt felt the 2014 release date wouldn't give him enough time to develop the story he wanted to tell and eventually dropped out, with Matt Reeves taking the helm on what ended up being one of the very best films of the year. Now Wyatt has shared his thoughts on the sequel as well as revealing how he might've done things differently.

Speaking with Collider, Wyatt shares that he thought Reeves did a great job with DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, sharing…

I thought it was beautifully directed; an incredibly well-made film.  It’s hard, you know, because I very much wanted to do the sequel.  I was very passionate about doing the sequel and other films.  I love that franchise and I’m thrilled in a way for Matt and what he achieved with that because he achieved something I probably couldn’t have because he did something different.  He’s his own filmmaker, I’m a different filmmaker, so it’s great he’s had success with that film and the fact that the franchise lives, that’s what we’re all hoping for.  So for that, I was thrilled when I was watching it.  I just had a very different take, and very different idea of what the movie was going to be, so it’s always going to be colored by that.

Wyatt then explained how his movie would have differed, sharing that he had plans to have the apes 'evolve technically', stating…

To be honest, it’s not that different, I guess.  For me, the majority of revolutions, probably the American Revolution aside, 9 times out of 10 result in civil war.  A revolution happens and then it fragments, and you have a civil war.  So we always set out on that path with Caesar and Koba becoming in a way the Martin Luther King Jr. and the Malcolm X of the revolution and the clash as the result of that.

I think the fundamental thing I wanted to do, which I think the franchise will probably do—and I haven’t talked specifically to Matt or Mark Bomback, the writer, of where they’re going with this—but I would imagine the thing that they’re going to go to was the thing I was hoping to do with the sequel, which is go into the cities.  Evolve technically, sort of figure out the combustion engine, so in a way interact with our society.  And for me, I found that fascinating, and I guess what Matt wanted to do—and obviously it was his first Apes film—was play out more the interim aspect of it.  Keep them in the forest for longer and stuff, so that was the fundamental difference between our takes on it. 

It would've been interesting to see Wyatt's sequel, but I still feel Reeves did an incredible job with DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. It remains one of my favorite flicks of the past few years and I can't wait to peep it again when it hits Blu-ray and DVD next month (you can pre-order the Blu-ray HERE or the DVD HERE).