Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a 2011 American science fiction drama film directed by Rupert Wyatt, starring James Franco and Andy Serkis.

It is 20th Century Fox's reboot of the Planet of the Apes series, intended to act as an origin story for a new series of films.^[3] Its premise is similar to the fourth film in the original series, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), but it is not a direct remake in that it does not fit into that series' continuity.

Following its release on August 5, 2011, Rise of the Planet of the Apes became a critical and commercial success. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

Plot [link]

Will Rodman (James Franco) is a scientist at biotechnology company Gen-Sys who has been trying to develop a cure for Alzheimer's disease and is testing a new gene therapy drug on chimpanzees. The drug, a modified virus, mutates the chimpanzees, giving them a human level of intelligence. A female chimp who believes her baby is being threatened goes on a rampage and is shot by security guards. Will's boss Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo) subsequently orders chimp handler Robert Franklin (Tyler Labine) to euthanize the remaining test chimpanzees. Franklin cannot bring himself to kill the baby chimp and instead gives him to Will, who takes him home to raise.

Will's father Charles (John Lithgow), who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, names the baby chimp "Caesar." Caesar (Andy Serkis) has inherited his mother's high intelligence and develops quickly. One day, after he frightens the children of their neighbor, Douglas Hunsiker (David Hewlett), and receives a cut on his leg, Will takes him to the San Francisco Zoo where primatologist Caroline Aranha (Freida Pinto) treats his injury. Will begins to take Caesar on excursions to the redwood forest at Muir Woods National Monument, but after seeing a family's German shepherd, Caesar begins to resent his status as a human "pet." When Caesar questions his identity, Will tells him that his mother was given a drug and that the reason for his intelligence is that the drug affected him while still in the womb. Caesar becomes more aware of his biological identity and begins to view himself as different from his human family.

A desperate Will tests a sample of his cure on his father. At first, his father's condition improves, but eventually his dementia returns. Confused, he attempts to drive Hunsiker's car, and damages it, angering Hunsiker. Caesar witnesses the confrontation and attacks Hunsiker, prompting authorities to place him in a primate shelter run by John Landon (Brian Cox), where he is treated cruelly by the other apes and the chief guard, Landon's son Dodge (Tom Felton). Caesar escapes from his cell and frees a gorilla kept in solitary confinement. With the gorilla's assistance, Caesar gains dominance over the other apes by beating the sanctuary's alpha chimp.

Will creates a more powerful form of the virus to resume treating his father, and Jacobs clears its testing on chimpanzees, which further increases their intelligence. However, unbeknownst to the scientists, it is fatal to humans. Franklin is exposed to the new virus and begins sneezing blood. Attempting to contact Will at his home, he accidentally infects Hunsiker, and is later discovered dead in his apartment. Will attempts to warn Jacobs against further testing but when Jacobs refuses to listen, Will quits his job.

After Charles' death, Will bribes the elder Landon into releasing Caesar into his custody, but Caesar refuses to leave. He later escapes from the ape facility on his own and returns to Will's house, where he steals canisters of the new virus and releases it throughout the cage area at the facility, enhancing the intelligence of his fellow apes. The apes put an escape plan into motion. Dodge attempts to intervene, leading to a fight with Caesar. Caesar shocks Dodge by shouting "No!" at him, and later kills him through electrocution. The liberated apes storm the city and release the remaining apes from Gen-Sys, as well as the entire ape population of a zoo.

The apes force their way past a police blockade on the Golden Gate Bridge and escape into the redwood forest. Jacobs, aboard a helicopter, falls to his death after the helicopter crashes and one of the apes kicks it off the bridge. Will arrives and warns Caesar that the humans will hunt them down, and begs him to return home. Caesar tells Will that he "is home" among his fellow apes. The final image shows the apes climbing to the tops of the redwood trees, looking out over the San Francisco Bay.

In a post-credits scene, Hunsiker arrives at his job as an airline pilot infected by the virus. The camera pans to a filled flight-status display board, then fades into a stylized flight map animated with blooming trajectories implying the spread of a global pandemic.

Cast [link]

Humans

• James Franco as Dr. William "Will" Rodman, a scientist who is trying to cure his father's Alzheimer's disease by testing it on chimps. He is a father figure to Caesar. James Franco was cast after talks with Tobey Maguire broke down.^[4][5]
• John Lithgow as Charles Rodman, Will's Alzheimer's-afflicted father and a former music teacher who improves after Will gives him the ALZ-112 and forms a strong bond with Caesar.
• Freida Pinto as Caroline Aranha, a primatologist who starts a relationship with Will and has grown attached to Caesar for five years.
• David Oyelowo as Steven Jacobs, Will's greedy boss. His last name is a reference to Arthur P. Jacobs, the producer of the original Planet of the Apes series.
• Brian Cox as John Landon, manager of the San Bruno Primate Shelter where Caesar is confined for a time. His full name is a reference to one of the astronauts in the original Planet of the Apes.
• Tom Felton as Dodge Landon, John's son and an animal caretaker at the shelter, who enjoys treating the apes cruelly. His first and last name are references to two of the astronauts in the original Planet of the Apes.
• Chelah Horsdal as Irena, a nurse who is looking after Charles.
• Tyler Labine as Robert Franklin, a chimp handler at Gen-Sys.
• David Hewlett as Douglas Hunsiker, Will's hot headed neighbor.
• Jamie Harris as Rodney, a caretaker who is kinder to the apes at the sanctuary.

Apes

• Andy Serkis as Caesar, a chimpanzee whose intelligence is increased due to inheriting ALZ-112 from his mother during her pregnancy, and who is raised by Will for eight years. He later leads a revolution against humanity and leads the apes to freedom.
• Karin Konoval as Maurice, a Bornean orangutan who had retired from the circus and knows sign language; he becomes Caesar's closest ally. His name is a reference to Maurice Evans, who played orangutan Dr. Zaius in the original Planet of the Apes (1968). Konoval also cameos as the clerk which delivers Will's appeal files.
• Richard Ridings as Buck, a western lowland gorilla who pledges his allegiance to Caesar after he is freed by him. His name is a reference to Buck Kaltilian, who played the gorilla Julius in the 1968 film, as well as another gorilla in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.
• Christopher Gordon as Koba, a scar-faced bonobo who has spent most of his life in laboratories and holds a grudge against humans.
• Terry Notary as Rocket, the former dominant chimp at the ape sanctuary, until Caesar overthrows him - his name references the set decorator of Planet of the Apes, Norman Rockett - and Bright Eyes, Caesar's mother who was captured in Africa - her name is the nickname given to Charlton Heston's human character by Zira in the 1968 film.
• Devyn Dalton as Cornelia, a female chimpanzee in the ape sanctuary.
• Jay Caputo as Alpha, the alpha male chimpanzee of Bright Eyes' pack and Caesar's father.

Production [link]

Development and writing [link]

In 2006, screenwriter-producer Rick Jaffa was searching for a script idea. As Jaffa searched a newspaper articles clipping, one about pet chimpanzees that become troublesome to their owners and heartbroken for not adapting well to the human environment intrigued him. As Jaffa eventually realized it fit the Planet of the Apes series, he called his wife and screenwriting partner Amanda Silver to express his ideas of such a chimpanzee eventually starting the ape revolution, and then the couple started developing the character of Caesar. Jaffa and Silver then wrote a script and sold it to Fox, producers of the Apes franchise. The script added other elements which the couple had researched, such as genetic engineering.^[6] Several tributes to specific scenes, characters, and cast and crew from the previous Apes film series were added in the script - in particular, Caesar's treatment at the primate sanctuary parallels Taylor's treatment as a captive in the original film.^[7][8]

In a segment of a video blog post, director Rupert Wyatt commented on the originality of the plot: "This is part of the mythology and it should be seen as that. It's not a continuation of the other films; it's an original story. It does satisfy the people who enjoy those films. The point of this film is to achieve that and to bring that fan base into this film exactly like Batman Begins."^[3] In a 2009 interview, Wyatt said, "We've incorporated elements from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, in terms of how the apes begin to revolt, but this is primarily a prequel to the 1968 film.... Caesar is a revolutionary figure who will be talked about by his fellow apes for centuries.... This is just the first step in the evolution of the apes, and there's a lot more stories to tell after this. I imagine the next film will be about the all-out war between the apes and humans."^[9]

Filming [link]

Filming began in July 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia.^[10] Filming also happened in San Francisco, California - the primary setting of the film - ^[10] and around Oahu, Hawaii, which doubled for the African jungle as the schedule and budget did not allow for real location shooting.^[11]

Visual effects [link]

As the animals in Rise were actual apes instead of the anthropomorphic simians of the original Apes film franchise, the producers decided not to use actors in make-up or animal suits. After considering real apes, instead Weta Digital created the apes digitally in almost every case through performance capture.^[12] Advances in the technology allowed the use of performance capture in an exterior environment, affording the film-makers the freedom to shoot much of the film on location with other actors, as opposed to the confines of a soundstage.^[13][14] The main breakthrough was a camera that enabled to watch the motion capture dots under daylight, employed mostly for the Golden Gate Bridge battle. A maximum of six actors could have their movements captured, with larger ape crowds using fully digital animals animated using Weta's move library. The Golden Gate Bridge set used both a physical set which was extended digitally, and a fully computer-generated model of the bridge that also included the ocean and nearby hills.^[15]

After shooting the actors playing humans interacting with others wearing the motion capture suits, a clean plate was shot with actors against the nothing for extra reference. Actor-stuntman Terry Notary guided the actors on realistic ape movement, while Weta studied the chimps on the Wellington zoo for reference. The digital apes also received detailed models with skeletons, muscles and nervous tissue layers for accurate animation. Cast models of apes' heads and limbs helped the texture department to replicate the skin details such as wrinkles and pores. Given the difference between human and chimpanzee facial muscles, the animators tweaked the performance through a new facial muscle system adding all the dynamics, ballistics, and secondary motion. As the silent performance required expressive eyes, a new eye model was made to depict both greater accuracy in muscle movement in and around the eyes, but also tear moisture, pupil dilation, and light refraction.^[12][16] While Andy Serkis was the primary performer for Caesar, as the effects team considered that at times "Andy overcame the character", other motion capture team actors were also used, specially Devyn Dalton, who had the same height as the chimpanzee would have. Along with that, they used Notary to play Caesar in stunt filled scenes such as the Golden Gate Bridge scene. ^[17]

Music [link]

The score for the film was written by Patrick Doyle and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony.^[18] The main concern was to have the music help progress the plot in the scenes without dialogue, for instance, conveying the emotions of Caesar's relationships with Will and Charles. To turn the score into a "driving force that keeps audiences paying attention", Doyle employed an African-American chorus and focused on percussion and "low and deep" orchestra sounds. Doyle collaborated closely with the sound department to make the music complement the sound effects, including writing a recurring theme based on their recording of a chimpanzee.^[19]

Reception [link]

Critical response [link]

Reviews for Rise of the Planet of the Apes have been positive, with review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reporting an 83% "Certified Fresh" rating, and an average rating of 7.1/10, based on 227 reviews. The site's summarized consensus is: "Led by Rupert Wyatt's stylish direction, some impressive special effects, and a mesmerizing performance by Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes breathes unlikely new life into a long-running franchise."^[20] Another review aggregator, Metacritic, reports a score of 68 based on 39 reviews.^[21]

Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and praised the role of Caesar and Andy Serkis by stating it was a "wonderfully executed character" and "one never knows exactly where the human ends and the effects begin, but Serkis and/or Caesar gives the best performance in the movie."^[22]

Richard Corliss of Time named the film one of the Top 10 Best Movies of 2011, saying, "Rise restores wonder to the word "movie"."^[23]

Box office [link]

Rise of the Planet of the Apes made its debut in the United States and Canada on roughly 5,400 screens within 3,648 theaters.^[24] It grossed $19,534,699 on opening day and $54,806,191 in its entire opening weekend, making it #1 for that weekend as well as the fourth highest-grossing August opening ever.^[25] The film held on to the #1 spot in its second weekend, dropping 49.2%, and grossing $27,832,307.^[26] Rise of the Planet of the Apes crossed the $150 million mark in the United States and Canada on its 26th day of release. Entertainment Weekly said that this was quite an accomplishment for the film since the month of August is a difficult time for films to make money.^[27]

The film ended its run at the box office on December 15, 2011 with a gross of $176,760,185 in the U.S.A and Canada as well as $305,040,688 internationally, for a total of $481,800,873 worldwide.^[2]

Awards [link]

Sequels [link]

Regarding the story setting up possible sequels, Wyatt commented: "I think we're ending with certain questions, which is quite exciting. To me, I can think of all sorts of sequels to this film, but this is just the beginning."^[42] Screenwriter and producer Rick Jaffa also stated that Rise of the Planet of the Apes would feature several clues as to future sequels: "I hope that we're building a platform for future films. We're trying to plant a lot of the seeds for a lot of the things you are talking about in terms of the different apes and so forth."^[3]

In an interview recorded after the release of the film, Wyatt stated that "We want to grow and evolve, in the films that will [hopefully] come after this, to the '68 original."^[43] Wyatt also stated that he wants it to take place 8 years after the original, as a whole new ape generation can be born, and explore the dynamics of Caesar and Koba's relationship.^[44]

According to Jaffa, a version of the spaceship from the 1968 Planet of the Apes is featured under the name Icarus in the film as a deliberate hint to a possible sequel.^[45] Andy Serkis has confirmed that there will be a sequel for the film and that he will be reprising his role as Caesar.^[46]

20th Century Fox's revised upcoming release schedule has the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, scheduled for a May 23, 2014 release.^[47]

Home media [link]

Rise of the Planet of the Apes was released on Blu-ray Disc, DVD, and Digital Copy on December 13, 2011.^[48]

References [link]

External links [link]

Film portal

• Official website
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes at the Internet Movie Database
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes at AllRovi
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes at Rotten Tomatoes
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes at Box Office Mojo
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes at the Planet of the Apes Wiki