This week saw 20th Century Fox releasing the trailer for War for the Planet of the Apes, the third film in the studio’s relaunched Apes franchise, which will see Caesar leading his apes in a full-scale war against the humans, led by Woody Harrelson’s The Colonel.
In an interview with Collider, Andy Serkis has been chatting about the tone of the hotly-anticipated threequel, describing it as “much darker, brutal, harder [and] tougher” than its two predecessors.
“[Caesar is] now living in a situation where both apes and humans are at war. There’s a sense that this is the crux, this is the climactic moment where both species are under huge threat and it’s pretty apocalyptic. This is a much darker, much more brutal, harder, tougher, very brutal film. As brutal as you can get within a PG-13. Not in an overly graphic way but in its emotions and context. There’s a real sense of foreboding in this movie. They’ve weathered… both sides are worn out. Caesar’s side had to leave their encampment in the woods and move up higher in the hills and set up a temporary base. An event happens at the beginning of this movie that sets him off on a track that almost eats him up.”
SEE ALSO: Read the Flickering Myth Reaction to the trailer for War for the Planet of the Apes
In War for the Planet of the Apes, the third chapter of the critically acclaimed blockbuster franchise, Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.
War for the Planet of the Apes is directed by Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) and features a cast that includes Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Judy Greer, Karin Konoval, Terry Notary, Michael Adamthwaite, Gabriel Chavarria, Max Lloyd-Jones, Sara Canning, Amiah Miller, Aleks Paunovic and Chad Rook. It is set for release on July 14th 2017.
Originally published December 11, 2016. Updated November 30, 2022.
