Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Dawn of the Planet of the Apesis a 2014 Americanscience fiction action filmdirected byMatt Reevesand written byMark Bombackand the writing team ofRick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. The sequel toRise of the Planet of the Apes(2011), it is the second installment in thePlanet of the Apesreboot film seriesand the eighth film overall. It starsAndy SerkisasCaesar, alongsideJason Clarke,Gary Oldman,Keri Russell,Toby Kebbell, andKodi Smit-McPhee. The film takes place in 2026, 10 years after the events ofRiseand follows a group of human survivors as they battle to stay alive in the wake of a deadlypandemic, while Caesar tries to maintain control over his expanding ape community which could lead to an all-out war between apes and humans.
A sequel toRise of the Planet of the Apeswas announced in 2011, with the return of both Serkis andRupert Wyattconfirmed that November. Wyatt departed the film in September 2012, and Reeves was hired as his replacement that October. Casting took place between February and March 2013, with none of the additional original main cast members returning.Principal photographycommenced that April and lasted until that July, with filming locations includingCampbell River,Vancouver Island, andNew Orleans. The apes were created using visual effects andmotion captureas commissioned byWeta Digital, with the film featuring greater use of these components during action sequences and to create other animals.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apespremiered on June 26, 2014 at thePalace of Fine ArtsinSan Franciscoand was theatrically released worldwide by20th Century Foxon July 11. The film received acclaim from critics, who praised its performances, visual effects, screenplay & soundtrack and grossed over $710 million, making it theeighth-highest-grossing film of 2014and the highest-grossing film in the franchise. It also receivednumerous awards and nominations, including anAcademy Awardnomination forBest Visual Effects. The sequel,War for the Planet of the Apes, was released in 2017.
In 2026, the humans are nearly extinct, with only about 1 in 500 (0.2%) genetically immune. Human civilization has been destroyed after societal collapse among humans. The apes, all bestowed with genetically enhanced intelligence by the virus, establish a colony in the Muir Woods National Monument near San Francisco, led byCaesar, along with his lieutenantsMaurice,Rocket, andKoba.
A group of humans, led by Malcolm, unknowingly enter the apes' territory in search of a hydroelectric dam that would restore power to their community in San Francisco. Carver, a member of Malcolm's group, injures Ash, Rocket's young son, in fear. Malcolm manages to prevent further escalation, and Caesar orders the humans to leave. Prompted by Koba, Caesar brings his army to the human community as a show of strength. Caesar announces that, while the apes do not want war, they will fight to defend themselves; he demands the humans stay in their territory. Malcolm convinces Dreyfus, the community's leader, to give him a chance to take a small team to the forest to negotiate with the apes and access the dam. Eventually, Caesar allows them to work on the generator on the condition that they surrender their guns. While working together, Malcolm, his nurse wife Ellie, and his son Alexander bond with the apes. The fragile truce briefly falls apart when Carver is discovered to have kept a hidden gun and is thus forcibly sent away, but trust is restored when Ellie saves Cornelia, Caesar's ill wife.
Concerned that the apes may attack, Dreyfus arms the community with the munitions at the Fort Point armory. Koba, who hated the humans for torturing him as a laboratory test subject, discovers the armory and confronts Caesar, accusing him of caring more about humans than apes. Caesar beats Koba in response but refrains from killing him. Koba kills two guards in the armory to steal a gun and returns home. He secretly kills Carver after the humans succeed in repairing the generator. Koba uses their celebration to covertly set fire to the ape colony. Unseen by the others, he shoots Caesar, who falls into the underbrush. Koba frames the humans for Caesar's apparent death and the fire to justify war. Taking command, he leads the ape army to San Francisco, where they plunder the armory and mount a full-scale assault on the humans. Despite taking heavy casualties, the apes breach the building and imprison the humans as Dreyfus flees. Koba kills Ash for refusing to kill unarmed humans and imprisons all other apes loyal to Caesar, including Rocket, Maurice, and Luca.
Malcolm's family finds a severely wounded Caesar and transports him to his former home in San Francisco. After sneaking back into the settlement to find medical supplies, Malcolm encounters Blue Eyes, Caesar's young son. Blue Eyes has him at gunpoint but decides to let him go until he learns from Malcolm that his father is still alive. Blue Eyes accompanies Malcolm to Caesar. Learning that it was Koba who shot Caesar, Blue Eyes reconciles with his father. The trio returns to the community and frees the imprisoned humans and apes. After escorting the apes into the tower, Malcolm finds Dreyfus, who has rigged the base of the tower with C-4, and reveals that his men made contact with a military base. Malcolm holds Dreyfus and his men at gunpoint to give Caesar enough time to retake command by confronting Koba at the top of the tower. In an attempt to kill all the apes, Dreyfus detonates explosives to destabilize the building, killing himself in the process. Caesar defeats Koba and refuses to help him as he falls to his death.
Malcolm warns Caesar of the approaching human military. Believing that the humans will never forgive the apes for their attack, Caesar tells Malcolm to leave with his family for safety before the fighting begins. He then addresses the apes as they prepare for the upcoming war.
Additionally,James Francomakes an uncredited appearance as Will Rodman through unused footage fromRise of the Planet of the Apes.
After the release ofRise of the Planet of the Apes, directorRupert Wyattcommented on possiblesequels: "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."Screenwriter and producer Rick Jaffa also stated thatRisefeatured 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."
In an interview recorded after the release ofRise, Wyatt stated, "We want to grow and evolve, in the films that will [hopefully] come after this, to the '68 original."Wyatt also stated that he wants it to take place eight years afterRise, as a whole new ape generation can be born, and explore the dynamics of Caesar and Koba's relationship.According to screenwriter Rick Jaffa, a version of the spaceship from the 1968Planet of the Apesunder the nameIcaruswas inRiseas a deliberate hint to a possible sequel.
In November 2011,Andy Serkiswas the first to be announced as having closed a deal for a sequel toRise. It was reported to be a "healthy seven-figure deal" for him to reprise his role as Caesar, the ape leader.On May 15, 2012, it was announcedScott Z. Burnshad been hired to do rewrites on the original screenplay byRisewritersRick Jaffa and Amanda Silver.On May 31, 2012,20th Century Foxannounced that the sequel would be titledDawn of the Planet of the Apes.
On September 17, 2012, there were reports that director Wyatt was considering leaving the sequel due to his concern that a May 2014 release date would not give him enough time to make the film properly.On October 1,CloverfielddirectorMatt Reeveswas confirmed as his replacement.Reeves had been working on developing a newTwilight Zonefilm.On October 18,Mark Bomback, writer ofLive Free or Die Hard, was reported to be doing a re-write for Reeves.
In December 2012, after the departure of director Wyatt,James Francospeculated that he would not return for the sequel as his character Will Rodman, saying "Now Rupert's not a part of it so my guess is I won't be in it."Freida Pinto, who played primatologist Caroline Aranha inRise, confirmed that she would not return forDawn.In April 2014, when asked byIGNabout the fate of Franco and Pinto's characters, producer Dylan Clark said they died due to the Simian Flu.
In February 2013, actorsGary Oldman,Jason Clarke, andKodi Smit-McPheewere cast in lead roles for the sequel, set ten years after the events from the first film.In March 2013, actressKeri Russellwas cast in a role.That same month,Judy Greerwas cast as Cornelia, a female chimp and love interest for Caesar.Toby Kebbell,Enrique Murciano, andKirk Acevedojoined the cast during filming.On May 15, 2013,Jocko Simswas cast in a supporting role of military operative Werner.
Filming began in April 2013 around the town ofCampbell River,British Columbia. The location ofVancouver Islandwas chosen for its similarity to the locations depicted in the film, the forests, and the variety of landscapes.Filming inNew Orleansstarted in May 2013 and continued in July 2013 at various locations such as the formerSix FlagsparkSix Flags New Orleans.
LikeRise, visual effects forDawnwere done byWeta Digital. In addition to the apes, Weta created other digital animals, such as a herd ofelk, agrizzly bear, and CGI doubles of the livehorses. The elk were created using key-frame animation and the digital crowd enhancement softwareMASSIVE, the bear through key-frame animation, and the horses with a mixture of key-frame animation andmotion capture.
The film score was composed byMichael Giacchino, who had collaborated with Reeves onCloverfield(2008) andLet Me In(2010).Giacchino referencedJerry Goldsmith's themes for the1968 filmandDanny Elfman's theme for the2001 film,while also incorporating his own themes referencing the score forLost(2004–2010) andSuper 8(2011).The soundtrack was released bySony Classical Recordson July 8, 2014.
On May 31, 2012, Fox announced thatDawn of the Planet of the Apeswas scheduled for release on May 23, 2014.However, it was announced on June 20, 2013 that the release date forDawnwas being pushed back two months to July 18, 2014.On December 10, 2013, the film was pushed up one week to July 11, 2014.The film premiered at thePalace of Fine ArtsinSan Francisco,Californiaon June 26, 2014.The film closed the36th Moscow International Film Festivalon June 28.
In Hungary, the largest cinema chain called Cinema City could not agree with the film's distributor, InterCom, and as a result it opened on July 17, 2014, on 45 screens, significantly fewer than similar big-budget productions.However, the film still managed to top the weekend box office chart of the country beatingTransformers: Age of Extinction, which had been leading the chart for three weeks (on 105 screens distributed by UIP Duna).
Aviral marketingcampaign for the film launched in July 2013 included a "simian flu" websiteand mockPSAvideos.20th Century Fox andVice Media's Motherboard released three short films online in July 2014 which document the ten-year gap between the events ofRise of the Planet of the ApesandDawn of the Planet of the Apes.A novel titledDawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm, written byGreg Keyes, which is also set between the events of the first two films was published in May 2014 byTitan Books.It would be followed by anovelizationof the film, written byAlex Irvine, also published by Titan Books.A partnership with 20th Century Fox andNdemic Creationssaw mobile/PC gamePlague Inc.get aDawn of the Planet of the Apes-themed update on July 10, 2014. It allows players to create and customize a simian flu virus to infect the world and eradicate humanity whilst helping apes survive.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apeswas a success at the box office with many critics calling it "the summer's best popcorn film",andDeadline Hollywoodcommented saying it is "a franchise that will keep going and going, unless they screw it up".The film grossed $208.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $502.1 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $710.6 million.Calculating in all expenses and revenues,Deadline Hollywoodestimated that the film made a net profit of $182.18 million.It had a worldwide opening of $103.3 million which was the 11th highest of 2014.Worldwide it is the highest-grossing film in thePlanet of the Apesfranchiseand theeighth-highest-grossing film of 2014.
In the United States and Canada, the film is the highest-grossing film in thePlanet of the Apesfranchise, unadjusted for inflationand the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2014.It opened on July 11, 2014 across 3,967 theaters and topped the box office on its opening day earning $27.7 million (including previews).During its traditional three-day opening, the film debuted at number one earning $72.6 million, which was 33% higher than its predecessor.Box Office Mojopointed out that the film's goodword of mouthas well as its predecessors', its darker tone, attachment of new characters and the first film'sway of endingwere all determining factors in the film's strong opening.It remained at the summit for two consecutive weekends in North America despite facing competition withThe Purge: Anarchyin its second week.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apesearned $31.3 million during its opening weekend internationally from 4,913 screens in 26 markets, where it opened at No. 1 in 14 of those. International opening weekend tallies of more than $5 million were witnessed in the UK ($14.88 million), Mexico ($12.94 million), South Korea ($11.5 million), Russia ($9.99 million), Brazil with ($9.2 million) and Australia ($6.6 million).The film topped the box office outside North America for two non-consecutive weekends.
The film became a massive financial success in China, where it opened with $47 million on its opening weekend there. The robust debut helped the film top the international charts for the first time dethroningGuardians of the Galaxyand aided the film in passing $400 million internationally and $600 million globally.Fox reported that the sequel's debut in China was one of the best in history for a Western title, save forIron Man 3,Transformers: Revenge of the FallenandTransformers: Age of Extinctionat that time.After playing for a month in theaters, it passed $100 million on its fourth weekend and became the fourth Hollywood film of the year to achieve such a milestone.In total, it went on to make $107.4 million there, of which the studio received $26.8 million profit.
Onreview aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 91% approval rating based on 316 reviews, with an average rating of 7.90/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "With intelligence and emotional resonance to match its stunning special effects,Dawn of the Planet of the Apesexpands on its predecessor with an exciting and ambitious burst of sci-fi achievement."Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 79 out of 100 based on 48 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".Audiences polled byCinemaScoregave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.
Guy Lodge ofVarietysaid, "An altogether smashing sequel to 2011's better-than-expectedRise of the Planet of the Apes, this vivid, violent extension of humanoid ape Caesar's troubled quest for independence bests its predecessor in nearly every technical and conceptual department, with incoming helmer Matt Reeves conducting the proceedings with more assertive genre elan thanRisejourneyman Rupert Wyatt."Todd McCarthyofThe Hollywood Reporterstated that the film "manages to do at least three things exceptionally well that are hard enough to pull off individually: Maintain a simmering level of tension without let-up for two hours, seriously improve on a very good first entry in a franchise and produce a powerful humanistic statement using a significantly simian cast of characters. In the annals of sequels,Dawnis toRise of the Planet of the ApeswhatThe Empire Strikes Backwas toStar Wars—it's that much better."Tim Robey ofThe Daily Telegraphsaid, "There's evident patience and intelligence to the filmmaking all over, as well as an engagement with genuine ideas about diplomacy, deterrence, law and leadership. However often it risks monkey-mad silliness, it's impressively un-stupid."Drew McWeeny ofHitFixawarded the film an "A+" grade and said "Dawnis not just a good genre movie or a good summer movie. It's a great science-fiction film, full-stop, and one of the year's very best movies so far."
Ty Burr ofThe Boston Globewrote that "in bearing, speech, and agonized expressiveness, Serkis's Caesar conveys the conflicts of a king with almostShakespeareangrandeur."A. O. ScottofThe New York Timespraised the film for being able to balance out the action sequences and special effects with strong storytelling, writing that "Dawnis more than a bunch of occasionally thrilling action sequences, emotional gut punches and throwaway jokes arranged in predictable sequence. It is technically impressive and viscerally exciting, for sure, but it also gives you a lot to think, and even to care, about."
Less favorable reviews included Andrew O'Hehir atSalon.comwho wrote, "Here's a rule that has gradually become clear to me: Any film that begins with one of those fake-news montages, where snippets of genuine CNN footage are stitched together to concoct a feeling of semi-urgency around its hackneyed apocalypse, already sucks even before it gets started. This one makes a dutiful attempt to struggle back from that suckage, but it all ends in yelling."
Dawn of the Planet of the Apeswas released by20th Century Fox Home Entertainmenton Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, and DVD on December 2, 2014.According toNielsen VideoScan, it subsequently became the best-selling home video release for the week.
After seeing his cut ofDawn, 20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment signed Matt Reeves to return as director for a third installment of the reboot series. On January 6, 2014, Fox announced Reeves to direct as well as co-write along with Bomback, with a planned July 2016 release. Peter Chernin, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver will produce.In January 2015, Fox delayed the release to July 14, 2017.On May 14, 2015, the title was given asWar of the Planet of the Apes.In September 2015, it was announced thatWoody Harrelsonhad been cast as the film's antagonist.In October 2015,Steve Zahnwas cast as a new ape in the film, re-titled asWar for the Planet of the Apes.