‘War for the Planet of the Apes’ Film Updates: Director Matthew Reeves Explains Conclusion of Ceasar’s Story; Producer Insists Trilogy was Unplanned

‘War for the Planet of the Apes’ director Matthew Reeves explained that the upcoming film would feature the conclusion to Caesar’s rise to power. Meanwhile, producer Dylan Clarke insisted that they had never planned to create a trilogy for the reboots.

According to Cinema Blend, Reeves explained, “You know one of the cool things we love about these movies is that they are not remakes. So you enter it from a totally new perspective, it's an ape perspective series.”

Reeves continued, “And as we're on that journey these are new stories that all lead to a trajectory where we already know the ending. And because we know the ending, the story is not what happens but how it happens. And they're psychological character stories. That's the fun of it.”

He concluded, “So the trilogy I'd say is that this is a Caesar arc that is specifically in our minds how he becomes a mythic, giant character. He is the sort of the seminal figure in ape history. And the events of this war, and what he does in this war cement his position in that place. But we don't see this story as ending.”

Reeves’ upcoming film ‘War for the Planet of the Apes’ is the third installment in the rebooted ‘Planet of the Apes’ cinematic series. The first in the series, entitled ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’, was released last 2011 to critical and commercial success. According to The Numbers, it earned $482.86 million worldwide.

The first rebooted film was intended as an origin story and starred James Franco and Frieda Pinto with Andy Serkis lending his voice to Caesar, a common yet highly intelligent chimpanzee who leads an ape revolution against humanity.

A sequel, entitled ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’, was released in 2014. It received positive reviews and was met with commercial success at the box office. Serkis reprised his role as Caesar, who has risen as the leader of an evolved ape tribe.

Meanwhile, producer Dylan Clark insisted that they never intended to create a trilogy for the reboots. He said, “We never set out to make a trilogy. We've been asked questions, '[Is] the next one going to be The Planet Of The Apes.' Our hope is that we make a whole movie that works here, and that we can continue with these characters that we love.”

‘War for the Planet of the Apes’ is an upcoming science-fiction film co-written and directed by Matthew Reeves. It is the sequel to 2014’s ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ and stars Woody Harrelson, Andy Serkis, and Judy Greer. It is produced by Chernin Entertainment and distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation in the United States.

The film is scheduled to premiere in U.S. theaters on July 14, 2017.