Acclaimed by audiences and critics alike, Matt Reeves’ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes recently passed $700 million at the worldwide box office and is now positioning leading man Andy Serkis for a potential Academy Award nomination for his role as Caesar. With the science fiction epic set to hit Blu-ray and DVD on December 2 (it’s also available on Digital HD messaging now), ComingSoon.net caught up with the cast and crew. We’ll be bringing you the full video interviews soon, but here’s what Reeves announced regarding the next chapter in the franchise, currently planned for release on July 29, 2016.
“The first one is sort of how [Caesar] goes from humble beginnings to becoming a revolutionary,” says Reeves. “In ‘Dawn,’ he really rose to occasion of becoming a leader in really challenging and difficult times. The notion of what we’re after with the third is to sort of continue that trajectory and see how he becomes a seminal figure in ape history. He almost becomes sort of like an ape Moses. A mythic status… We’re trying to play out those themes and continue to sort of explore it in this universe. Exploring human nature under the guise of apes.”
Reeves also explained that Serkis’ “outsider” take on Caesar is of vital importance to the arc of the character and is something that will certainly carry over to the third big screen chapter (or ninth, depending on your point of view).
“A thing I always found very moving was the concept of a character that was [an outsider],” Reeves adds. “Andy [Serkis] told me the way he played him and the thing that really moved me was that [Caesar] was really all about being an outsider. [He] said that [he] felt [he] was human until the one day it was made clear that that [he isn’t]. [He] said it felt like heartbreak. Like, ‘Oh, I’m not one of them!’ Then he’s thrown in with the apes, but he’s not one of them either. He’s an outsider to both. That was very moving to me because he’s an outsider to both but connected to both. He is the unique character in this story to be able to connect between the human and the ape world.”
Check back soon for our full video interviews and, in the meantime, be sure to check out our just-published list of The 10 Best Motion Capture Performances.
