NYCC 2016: Andy Serkis and Matt Reeves talk War for the Planet of the Apes!

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Just yesterday, the world got its first look at footage from WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES footage via a special presentation at New York Comic-Con. And while of course we didn't see much (the film doesn't come out until July, after all, and they're still deep into post-production), what we did see was exceptionally cool. A brief sequence in which the apes – deep in the midst of war with the human army – stumble upon a small child that they decide to take with them, the sequence showed us just how much actual "acting" the thespians on these films do by giving us glimpses of Andy Serkis, playing Caesar, and several other actors playing apes on set with their motion capture suits on. The sequence transitioned between finished product and footage of Serkis and the rest in their human form, and the longer it went on, the easier it was to meld the two visions into one seamless experience. It was really quite cool.

Before the footage screened, I got the chance to sit down with Serkis, WAR director Matt Reeves, and PLANET OF THE APES producer Dylan Clark to talk about their latest foray into the ape world, the challenges Caesar faces in this installment, the advancement of motion capture technology, and if we might eventually see the original PLANET OF THE APES in the future.

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES hits theaters on July 14, 2017.