Rise of the Planet of the Apes (prequel)

[Zeno]

I am a huge fan of Planet of the Apes, not the crappy Tim Burton movie (which had nice make up & effects but the story was crap) but the original series.

A new prequel is now being made which is supposed to be more true to the original.

Rise of the Apes is centered on genetic research. Will is a doctor trying to cure Alzheimers, a disease that afflicts his father. He's working with monkeys to create a benign virus that can get into brain tissue and restore functionality. After his research is shut down he's left with just one chimp, the child of his most promising subject, and Will raises him at home. Young Caesar is incredibly intelligent for an ape, and over time he continues to mutate and evolve, looking less like a chimp and moving on from sign language to actual speech. Eventually Caesar ends up leading an army of apes in an uprising just as a catastrophe strikes mankind.

http://www.chud.com/articles/articl...-OF-THE-APES-PREQUEL-STORY-DETAILS/Page1.html

James Franco & John Lithgow are confirmed.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1318514/

 

[Louis]

So during his evolving does he begin to resemble Mr. Peepers?

 

[Gaddabout]

That would be a remake of a prequel, correct?

 

[Zeno]

That would be a remake of a prequel, correct?

Well in the original movies they never really addressed how the apes evolved. They did have the story of the apes taking over in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes...so I guess it is sort of a remake with a new element to it.

Conquest is my second favorite Apes movie. Hopefully this one doesn't disappoint.

 

[mojorizen7]

Well in the original movies they never really addressed how the apes evolved. They did have the story of the apes taking over in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes...so I guess it is sort of a remake with a new element to it.

Conquest is my second favorite Apes movie. Hopefully this one doesn't disappoint.

I'm an admitted POTA geek and I agree. "Conquest" essentially tied together the paradox started with the original POTA. "Battle" was poorly done and a little unnecessary.

A revisioning of that 4th film would be interesting given the cinematic possibilities of the events following the apes evolution and eventual domination of the planet Earth.....leading to the premise of the original.

Burton's POTA remains the single most dissappointing remake/revision ever IMO....rubbish.

A director/writers touch remnicent of JJ Abrahms "Star Trek" would be the perfect touch.....fresh, yet without trying too hard to reinvent what was special about the original film series.

 

[Russ Smith]

Well in the original movies they never really addressed how the apes evolved. They did have the story of the apes taking over in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes...so I guess it is sort of a remake with a new element to it.

Conquest is my second favorite Apes movie. Hopefully this one doesn't disappoint.

I've seen them all so many times I get confused on the chronology. But didn't one of the talking apes of the future go back in time to present day earth, then have a baby ape with a normal ape? That baby was the talking ape in Conquest(that's the one with Ricardo Montalban right?).

So it was similar to Terminator in that the talking apes of the future were actually the start of the talking ape which was a big paradox.

 

[mojorizen7]

I've seen them all so many times I get confused on the chronology. But didn't one of the talking apes of the future go back in time to present day earth, then have a baby ape with a normal ape? That baby was the talking ape in Conquest(that's the one with Ricardo Montalban right?).

So it was similar to Terminator in that the talking apes of the future were actually the start of the talking ape which was a big paradox.

Here's one of the more interesting timeline representations...one in which the author took quite a few creative liberties of his own.
WARNING: turn the volume down because the looping soundbite is obnoxious.
http://pota.goatley.com/prophecy/timeline.htm

 

[Gaddabout]

I also love the POTA series. The problem with any remake is it's impossible to import the social ramifications by removing it from the era in which it was made. If you remove the social context, which I felt was Burton's most unforgivable mistake, it's just another cheesy sci-fi movie.

 

[Mulli]

I also love the POTA series. The problem with any remake is it's impossible to import the social ramifications by removing it from the era in which it was made. If you remove the social context, which I felt was Burton's most unforgivable mistake, it's just another cheesy sci-fi movie.

Yup.

 

[Zeno]

I'm an admitted POTA geek and I agree. "Conquest" essentially tied together the paradox started with the original POTA. "Battle" was poorly done and a little unnecessary.

I think I read somewhere that Battle was done on a limited budget as the producers were just trying to profit on the popularity of the series and at that point could care less about quality and it showed.

 

[Zeno]

I've seen them all so many times I get confused on the chronology. But didn't one of the talking apes of the future go back in time to present day earth, then have a baby ape with a normal ape? That baby was the talking ape in Conquest(that's the one with Ricardo Montalban right?).

So it was similar to Terminator in that the talking apes of the future were actually the start of the talking ape which was a big paradox.

This remake could eliminate the story line of "Escape" (which is where Caesar's parents Cornelius & Zira travel back in time).

Slightly OT --One of my dogs is named Zira, thats how big a geek I am about this series.

 

[Gaddabout]

This remake could eliminate the story line of "Escape" (which is where Caesar's parents Cornelius & Zira travel back in time).

Man, I hated those scenes where they were taken shopping leading into their celebrity status. Corny for affect, yes, but corny nonetheless.

 

[mojorizen7]

I also love the POTA series. The problem with any remake is it's impossible to import the social ramifications by removing it from the era in which it was made. If you remove the social context, which I felt was Burton's most unforgivable mistake, it's just another cheesy sci-fi movie.

Good point. Certainly there are current social issues which could be run thru a fresh screenplay if it was written with that in mind. Heck,the issues that ran thru the original films haven't exactly been driven from modern day society....unfortunately.

 

[mojorizen7]

This remake could eliminate the story line of "Escape" (which is where Caesar's parents Cornelius & Zira travel back in time).

Agreed. While i like "Escape" very much,the plot line involving Cornelius,Zira and Milo the scientist salvaging Taylor's sunken spaceship and blasting off into orbit has always been hard for me to digest.....although the implied visual image of them watching the Earth melt was powerful enough for me to forgive the writers. That, and how else were they going to make a 3rd film? LOL

Slightly OT --One of my dogs is named Zira, thats how big a geek I am about this series.

Haha very cool.

 

[Covert Rain]

Though I enjoyed the originals I found them pretty campy at times and some of the effects were awful. Also, the writing was uneven. There were times when I was thinking that is cool and other times REALLY!?!?!!?

I was probably one of the few that liked the Tim Burton movie. It wasn't great but I liked it. What I didn't like was the casting of Mark Wahlberg. At any rate, I wouldn't mind seeing a modern twist to these stories. I just hope they are good enough to see the movies through. The problem with most remakes is if they don't hit it big, there is zero chance of seeing any of the ones that could follow.

 

[Gaddabout]

Good point. Certainly there are current social issues which could be run thru a fresh screenplay if it was written with that in mind. Heck,the issues that ran thru the original films haven't exactly been driven from modern day society....unfortunately.

You'd be walking through a minefield of political correctness, and you might not get to a test screening before someone accuses the makers of the movies of comparing people of color to apes.

I have no doubt it could be done, but it would probably be easier to start from scratch with an entirely different concept than revisiting this one (that's already had five movies and a remake of the original).

I guess my thinking is if I were in the incredibly fortunate position to be offered to write this movie, I'd turn it down because I would see it the likely end of my career (either by offending the wrong people or by writing an awful movie).

 

[crisper57]

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

EW has the new trailer for "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", staring James Franco. This movie will be released on August 5th, a time of the year typically reserved for the worst Hollywood has to offer.

This movie intrigues me for several reasons. First, WETA Digital is doing the effects, and I have a hard time thinking of any project they've done that was terrible. From the trailer, it looks like they've taken their game up a notch, even from what they accomplished in "Avatar".

Second, the movie seems to veer off into suspense/horror, which is a pretty big contrast to the campy "Ape" movies of the past. I love that they are taking the mythos of the story in a new direction.

Third, it has James Franco, and he doesn't miss very often on selecting quality projects (other than the Oscars).

Here's the link to the trailer.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/04/14/rise-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-trailer/

 

[Zeno]

http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb...pes-prequel-154896.html?highlight=Planet+apes

 

[crisper57]

http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb...pes-prequel-154896.html?highlight=Planet+apes

Oops. Didn't see that one.

 

[Zeno]

Oops. Didn't see that one.

Thanks for posting the trailer though, I hadn't seen that yet.

I am really looking forward to the movie. Hopefully they don't screw it up.

 

[Gaddabout]

OK. This is a full-on reboot, and I'm sort of interested again. Andy Serkis (you know him as Gollum) as Caesar feels like a stroke of brilliance in casting. They also got strong character actors in Brian Cox, John Lithgow, David Hewlett and handful of others you will recognize (Draco Malfoy? Really? I'll give it a shot once)

 

[Cheesebeef]

OK. This is a full-on reboot, and I'm sort of interested again. Andy Serkis (you know him as Gollum) as Caesar feels like a stroke of brilliance in casting. They also got strong character actors in Brian Cox, John Lithgow, David Hewlett and handful of others you will recognize (Draco Malfoy? Really? I'll give it a shot once)

color me surprised, but that actually looks interesting.

 

[Gaddabout]

color me surprised, but that actually looks interesting.

One hopes that "fear of science" is not the morale of the story, though. Surely they have something else to say.

 

[Cheesebeef]

One hopes that "fear of science" is not the morale of the story, though. Surely they have something else to say.

no they won't.

 

[mojorizen7]

Its sort of a re-invention of the 4th film in the original POTA films "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes."

I dont know if it'll be any good...but if its better than Tim Burtons epic FAIL from 2001 that'd be a good start.
(fingers crossed)