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RISE OF THE APES - digital apes from WETA?
Hey folks, Harry here... I know that Andy Serkis has been cast as Caesar in Fox's upcoming RISE OF THE APES this summer, but in my head I was always thinking... "Oh, that's cool, Andy will finally get some make-up work" because... ya know, it's an APES pic, and APES pics mean make up. At least in my monkey brain. But over at the LA TIMES they've interviewed Tom Felton, that lil bastard what tried to kill DUMBLEDORE, so evil. Anyway, must separate man from character. Its hard, especially when you have a die hard HARRY POTTER super freak living with you. Anyway, Tom was talking to reporter, Geoff Boucher and while he wasn't allowed to go to deeply into the plot of RISE OF THE APES, which is weird, because the script has been out for ages, he got quite geekily excited that this time, the Apes were being created Digitally... by WETA.
Yeah. Digital. Now, WETA is the tops for this kind of work, but... oh man. Every tiny corner of my brain is sort of freaking - just because... well, ya know... if you're going to restart the APES franchise, and you're gonna start at BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES and go linearly... this makes sense. Stylistically, this will radically reshape what we know of the APES series visually. Will they even be upright human Apes at all? Once you go digital, it frees the motion and the dynamism of the characters. BUT OH MAN, what a risk. I'm sure WETA will do great, but it kind of kills me a bit. It also explains why we haven't been seeing pics of characters in Ape makeup. Which, of course FOX would have been releasing.
Readers Talkback
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Wow. WETA Digital Apes for RISE OF THE APES... not makeup. Wow.
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known for quite a while? Either way this is one project i'm looking forward to.
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If it were any other effects house them I would be worried but the guys at Wets are top notch.
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Just trying it on for size.
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Andy Serkis was even cast. It was announced when the friggin' movie was announced. Good God, AICN.
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Heaps of shite
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That fucking Burton waste of time was the last time I wanna see an Apes movie, I actually didn't even want that useless movie. I'll stick w/the original movie..part 2 is acceptable and beyond that they're crap. The live action and animated shows are more watchable than any of the sequels..
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the early ape gets the banana.
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I mean really? Come on Harry.
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3 and 4 are very good and 5 is rubbish.
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I'm not usually one of these guys who's berating te site for being a few days or weeks behind in reposting a news story, but this is just plain lazy. And no, they won't be upright apes like the originals, they're supposed to look like actual modern day chimps.
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WTF Harry? There are set pics of Serkis with the typical gray jumpsuit on that they cover with CG...
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is everything "Rising" these days..... jesus if they get any lazier in Hollywood moviemaking will just come to a full stop.......
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But seriously, I never really grok'd it till now. I'm wildly curious to see finished footage of this. It could radically shift our perception of what an Apes film could be, depending on the quality of the Digital work, which must be as great as it can be to work. I'm just excited, terrified and a little sad. I love old school so much, and most of the time it is photographically superior, but if this is being done as great as it can be done... It could be quite exciting to watch.
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But we can all agree that Linda Harrison was a smokin' hot piece of ass back then!
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You are right there. Two was pretty much a copy of one with just a different actor in the lead. There rest of the sequels were great for the budget they had apart from 5 which was just plain shit
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Which proves that makeup does not = good movie.
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Darkest ending ever filmed.
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They're remaking Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.
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Burton's had the great makeup, but was a rancid turd of a movie - no message, no plot. If this one is a great story - I would gladly sacrifice makeup for Weta apes in favor of that approach.
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Go watch Transformers again and leave the discussion of classic cinema to the adults.
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I declare.
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Roddy McDowell has left us. That man showed more emotion and acting skill under so much make up and really brought the characters he played to life. It would have been great to see a small cameo from him.
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Great FX do not make a great movie, so who cares if Weta is doing it. It's the SCRIPT that matters most. Stylistically, Burton's POTA looked damn good, but the plot and ridiculous ending totally ruined what could have been a great film. So stop being a bunch of gullible fanboys who get overly excited for a movie just because a particular company is doing the FX. The film could look like great eye candy and STILL suck.
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Looking forward to some ape goodness.
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They've had pictures out of Andy Serkis on location with the actors filming scenes in a motion capture suit. If they were going practical effects for this film, they would have had him in makeup on those set photos. Those pics were leaked ages ago...come on Harry, get with it.
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In other news Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is to be released as two films and in 3D...
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Well, the first four, anyway. Never saw 5.
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bam did it best, dont try to follow
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and we knew it was a mocap film ala Tintin that Weta has done before. Harry where were you? By the way, I'm sure they will do a great job on the fx but will the script be up to the same level?
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In a movie about sentient apes? In an age where digital realism has never been more convincing -- ESPECIALLY with non-human characters? That this registers as a disappointment (like, years late besides), shocks and appalls me.
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you don't like Planet Of The Apes. This isn't the post you're looking for. You can go about your business. Move along.
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Old news is old
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The Burton one was horrible. The Rick Baker makeup was fine) but everything from there was ridiculous, Walberg as the wooden lead (just not his kind of flick), having the humans speak, the apes living in a Flintstones type community, worshipping the monkey, and the dum dum ending. My guess is if this one is successful they will be able to essentially reboot PotA next and wipe the abberation of the Burton reboot from our collective memories. And the digital apes has been known forever. I'm not terribly concerned since WETA did Gollum as well as King Kong. I would figure that the character design will be a cool mashup of those rather than humans in prostethics. They will probably use the same kind of performance capture Cameron developed for Avatar. I always liked PotA until it got over commercialized and turned into everything from a short-lived TV series to a short-lived cartoon. Talk about milking a franchise. Star Trek had nothing on them.
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Learned of this about 5 or 6 months ago. I forget the source, but have known about the WETA digital work for the film ever since.
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was the dinner with Lisa Marie & Glenn Shadix which seemed like something out of Beetlejuice. That ending was a twist without subtext and totally incoherent.
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Jan. 12, 2011, 5:32 p.m. CST
So will the Apes rise at Serkis Serkis or Caesar's Palace?
by Snookeroo
Heh.
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if the progression toward it had made any logical sense at all. If you listen to Burton's commentary he clearly has no idea how it happened.
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like a LOT better...
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Doesn't sound appealing to me.
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The apes rose under Caesar in the 4th apes movie, 1972's Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. Please, if you profess to be some sort of Apes fan, and pretend to be a retro-know-it-all, even though you were 2 years old at the time, do get your simian facts correct.
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Jan. 12, 2011, 5:54 p.m. CST
Yeah nobody wants to remake Battle for the Planet of the Apes.
by MattmanReturns
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Sorry, had to say it. Too bad the era of practical FX seems to be ending. They won't even sew a Superman suit anymore. And doing it CGI probably costs more.
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That's all you need to know about Battle for the Planet of the Apes.
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Jan. 12, 2011, 6:01 p.m. CST
Rise better have the red green and orange jumpsuits.
by The_Maltese_Vulcan
Or else WETA will have them flinging poop at the evil humans.
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Jan. 12, 2011, 6:07 p.m. CST
So....we're getting an APES movie every first year of a decade???
by doom master
It took them exactly 10 years to fix the last one's mistakes? FUCK THAT
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like the vampires in Blade 2. You need actors eyes. Do the mouth effects digitally for freedom of lip and jaw movement...
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They have done good CG but they've also done bad CG. Doing an Apes movie with CG apes..? You might as well make the whole thing CG!!! I pinned this decission on the director. It will have been his choice to take this direction! Now we have to put up with dead eyes apes whilst trying to enjoy the plot!
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The "people" in that movie were atrocious and took me right out of the film. It didn't matter about anything else, but they effed up the zombie/vampires by not using real people and instead doing a terrible CGI rendering. Maybe WETA can do a better job (they almost certainly could) and apes are obviously different creatures than humans. But, I'm not hopeful until I see some kind of picture.
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Now this? I was moderately excited when I heard about this project and where it would start in the timeline. That's kinda gone now. This is just awful news. Harry's right on this one: WETA will no doubt do great work and get the job done... but... I dunno. I'm not the type to judge things before I see them in their entirety, but this one is REALLY tough for me. Not liking this news at all. FOX. What a joke.
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Wow. This really sends a historical statement. Ben Nye, one of the top names in theatrical makeup, got started doing makeup for Planet of the Apes. No makeup on a Planet of the Apes movie, more than anything else, seals the death of latex sci-fi movie makeup.
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a film by Bell Laboratories
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Wolfman, Apes remake...there's more but I can't think of any right now.
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Jan. 12, 2011, 7:53 p.m. CST
That's kind of like saying there's chocolate in that shit sandwich.
by The_Maltese_Vulcan
Luckily we geeks are picky eaters.
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they did the fx for splice and that movie looked creepy az hell with that monster bitch
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They could just use make up and it'd look just as good, if not better. CG is just so easy to spot. OR they could use a combination of CG and make up. That's the street I'd drive down.
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The cheeseball appeal of the Apes series (yes, even the unfairly maligned Burton remake) is seeing real actors make almost unrecognizable underneath cool makeup appliances. Say what you will about the Burton film, but Rick Baker's makeup was a career high (and it's shameful it wasn't even NOMINATED for an Oscar that year, and the Mrs. Doubtfire-level old age makeup in A Beautiful Mind was). It's like what someone above said about I Am Legend..why the HELL were all the zombie/vampires done with CGI? They looked fucking HORRIBLE and it would have been much cheaper just to schlep some makeup on some actual stuntmen.
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"I’m amazed, really, that they didn’t do [the original films] in this order and start with this modern-day story. It seems logical to start with this story and then go forward from there" is why 95% of the actors in this world should never set pen to paper or get behind a camera. I'm sure he's a nice guy..no...really, I like the guy..but Fuuuuck. Stop erasing all doubt about whether or not you know first thing about how to construct a story, or understand what makes a powerful, visceral movie (Planet would have been gutted if filmed in a linear fashion...IMHO)and get back to mugging in front of that green screen Malfoy.
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Return to the Planet of the Apes as kind of the "first" movie. The ball is set rolling by the introduction of Caeser to the story (and the first breach of the time barrier). Beneath the Planet of the Apes is the last movie, because...well everything gets blammoed.
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....it won't look real enough and the CGI will take the viewer out of the movie. The human eye is just too discerning. It's one thing to use CGI to sweeten the image, but to make the apes out of whole digital cloth is a mistake. I hope for the best but am not hopeful.
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Please read your own site, Harry. This is freakin' embarrassing... "Fox Announces Tentative Title, Release Date And Premise For Its New PLANET OF THE APES Project!! Published on: May 06, 2010 7:54:18 CDT Fox just announced a date for its Planet of the Apes movie, tentatively titled "Rise of the Apes": June 24, 2011. This one will utilize motion-capture CGI simians from WETA Digital. Rupert Wyatt (“The Escapist”) directs from a screenplay by Amanda Silver & Rick Jaffa ("Eye For An Eye," "The Relic"). The studio describes the premise: Set in present day San Francisco, the film is a reality-based cautionary tale, a science fiction/science fact blend, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy."
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Where they use real terms, instead of "digital," to describe how effects are being achieved. Christ. Show some respect for the art you claim to love so much. Put down your Empire book and pick up an article or two on how art is being done in 2010. When I have a time machine, I'm gonna go back in time and piss on every movie that uses "glass paintin's and opticals."
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Sorry for the late reply - was just watching Transformers as you suggested. Now where were we? Ah yes......POTA being boring. Please feel free to continue your passionate defence at your convenience.
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Jan. 13, 2011, 3:53 a.m. CST
I still can't forgive Tim Burton for Planet of the Rapes!
by HarryBlackPotter
There were so many scripts, so many interesting takes and new directions they could have gone with. James Cameron came so so close and Arnie would have been the perfect Taylor...but they went with 'Tiiimmmmiii' instead. Tim Burton did an interview a few months before they started filming POTA and it made for interesting reading: Q. I hear you've spent a lot of time in a zoo getting to know the chimps and stealing their bananas. A. Tiiimmmmiii!!!!!!!!! Q. Marky Mark is a big douche, but he can body pop like a bastard. Do you think he'll bring some interesting shapes to the project. A. Tiiimmmmiii!!!!!!!!! Q. Is it true Michael Keaton caught you 'abusing' yourself whilst in a Catwoman suit on the set of Batman Returns and that's the reason he won't work with you? A. Tiiimmmmiii!!!!!!!!! Q. I hear for your next film your thinking of shooting inside your asshole and Johnny Depp said he can't wait to climb aboard? A. Tiiimmmmiii!!!!!!!!! Q. Thanks for your time, you spaz.
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Jan. 13, 2011, 6:10 a.m. CST
"I’m amazed, really, that they didn’t do [the original films] in this order and start with this modern-day story. It seems logical to start with this story and then go forward from there."
by buggerbugger
Somebody hand this kid the Fucking Idiot of the Day Award before I batter him to death with it.
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Why has this been posted by Harry? This is an old story, we've known for months the apes were gonna be cgi !
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The story in it is quite different than in any of the movies. But then again, it's not terribly good book.
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Just signed up to talkback as this site has now got so poor that Harry is reusing OLD OLD stories as new This was previously reported TWICE http://www.aintitcool.com/node/45746 http://www.aintitcool.com/node/44975 Come on even just a simple search o9f your own site using Rise Of The Apes gives this info Only reason i use this site anymore is for the BTS pics
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Punctuation is not arbitrary. There are RULES to follow. Do yourself a favor and take an online writing course, already.
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The first time they started talking about a new Apes film. Then it kind of went away for awhile and now it's back. Well they didn't literally say they were going to be digital apes but they said they would be more like real chimpanzees and far less human because they are the result of genetic testing, so I sort of assumed they would be CGI. I'm fine with it personally. The originals still exist as they say and I would like to see a new, grittier take on the material in the vein of Splice or something.
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Jan. 13, 2011, 9:44 a.m. CST
Good makeup in the Burton flick, EXCEPT...
by HarryKnowlesNonExistentInceptionReview
...Helena Bonham, who looked like Michael Jackson.
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You have the attention span of a toddler on crack and the god-given intelligence of a napkin.
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How many properties can they destroy?
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He said it all really.. Only the BTS pic of the day is of any worth on this site.. http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/ is a much better bet these days.
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The vampires in "I Am Legend" will also be "digital".
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I remember being real pissed off walking out of the theater for that alternate time-travel/paradox shit. That's only happened a few times for me. Star Wars Episode 1, Highlander 2, Matrix 3, Burton's POTA, and The Perfect Storm. I seen several shitty movies, but I expected more from those. For those wondering why The Perfect Storm is on that list, is because it's completely made up (except for the boat sinking and everyone dying), for a "Based on a True Story". Sigh... thanks for letting me vent.
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Jan. 13, 2011, 11:46 a.m. CST
Well, yeah, it was made up...
by HarryKnowlesNonExistentInceptionReview
...but a bunch of fishermen DID die in that storm. Maybe off-duty fishermen just aren't all that interesting and they had to pad the story?
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This is a terrible idea for a movie. Let's see---take a franchise predicated on sci-fi allegory and a big twist ending and turn it into---monkey revolt! Why are we even paying credence to this shit?
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Rise of the Apes sounds like a reboot/remake of Conquest. The idea of doing the original series linearly is dumb. Clearly, the first film (based on the Boule book) was the starting point. The only reason they went back in time was because Taylor nuked the planet at the end of Beneath, and there was more money to be made in further sequels. As everyone says, it has been known for some time that the apes in the new movie would be digital. BTW the Burton film was disappointing (it looked great though), but it actually grossed $362m.
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I'd really rather have seen them tackle the original novel by Pierre Boulle. The 1969 movie used some elements and even Burton's version did. Most people probably don't realize that the Planet in the book was a modern one, not some funky middle earth ape world. Burton sort of references this once Marky Mark gets back to earth. And Boulle's "surprise" ending was more interesting as well.
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What's surprising about this? Studios have been moving away from prosthetics for almost a decade. I just can't believe studio execs think people want to see another fucking "Planet of the Apes" movie. Ooh, maybe in this version, the apes WON'T win and be banished to a Terraformed Mars? What young indie scarlet/supermodel will be cast as a sexy ape? Will Snooki have a cameo? Like seriously, what makes this appealing at all?
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Jan. 13, 2011, 5:42 p.m. CST
It could work. Digital animals aren't as bad as digital humans.
by Royston Lodge
The proof will be in the pudding.
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No defense needed for the original Planet of the Apes. Onto Transformers 2 with you.
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