Category Movies

Dawn opens ten years after the devastating Simian flu pandemic has decimated the human race, and the City by the Bay looks very different than moviegoers may remember from Rise. “I was very interested in telling the story from the apes’ point of view,” said Reeves, “To start the movie not in the post-apocalyptic world [of man], but instead in a world where it seemed it had been inherited by the new species of intelligent apes.” A rust-ravaged Golden Gate Bridge serves as a set of monkey bars for the apes to travel between their home in the Marin headlands to the now-desolate city of San Francisco. “The idea is that the earth would sort of start to reclaim this place,” said Reeves. “We tried to do it in as naturalistic a fashion as possible … what would happen here without humanity?”

Keri Russell, who plays the wife of Malcolm (Clarke) in the film, praised Serkis’ performance as Caesar, the genetically-enhanced ape. “Andy is just so good. That was really the treat of doing this movie. I really hope people start paying attention to him. He’s unbelievable.”

After the screening, the cast and crowd were ushered into the rotunda of the Palace of the Fine Arts, which had been transformed into a post-Simian Flu, apocalyptic afterparty. Dramatic up-lighting and overgrown branches shrouded the venue in deep shadows as floor-to-ceiling triptychs featuring Caesar’s iconic visage glowered over all. The dimly lit arena made distinguishing between guests almost impossible, keeping with the film’s message of the evening that, truly, we are all alike.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes hits theaters July 11.

Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com

Over the past few weeks, we’ve posted an enormous amount of coverage on director Matt Reeves’ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. We had our set visit (with 45 things to know about the movie), on set interviews with Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, and cinematographer Michael Seresin, new toy images, new movie images and posters, a TV spot, and more. Based on everything I’ve seen and learned, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is going to be a great sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes and it’s going to show how motion capture technology has advanced over the past few years. I really believe Reeves is going to hit a home-run with this film.

At last weekend’s WonderCon, I landed a great video interview with Keri Russell and Gary Oldman. Unlike some interviews that are formal, I was their last interview of the day and they just wanted to have some fun. You’ll understand as you watch the video. They talked about how the film shows both the apes and humans perspectives, what it was like filming in New Orleans, working with Reeves while he was seriously ill with pneumonia, the morality of Oldman’s character, the performance capture technology and shooting in 3D, what happened with the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy sequel Smiley’s People, The Americans season 2 finale, and you can even watch Oldman talking with his son on the phone. It’s a fun interview so check it out after the jump. Continue reading Keri Russell and Gary Oldman Talk DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, Filming in New Orleans, the TINKER TAILOR Sequel, and More

It’s humans versus apes in 20th Century Fox’s new film “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.” And though, as star Keri Russell points out, the title of the movie doesn’t bode very well for the humans, the actors in the movie make a point of saying this movie is about whether the two warring factions can live harmoniously together.

“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” took over WonderCon Anaheim 2014 with new footage that showed off director Matt Reeves’ style of using motion capture and 3D on location. Gary Oldman gushes to reporters that Reeves “changed the game” on the style of moviemaking because of the way the motion captured characters so seamlessly blend into their real surroundings.

“The movie has a completely different feel and a different look to it than anything you’ve seen previously,” Oldman says. “It’s spooky actually how real it looks.”

Master motion capture actor Andy Serkis creates part of that credibility. He reprises his “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” role of Caesar in “Dawn,” which picks up about 10 years later.

“We arrive at the beginning of the movie from ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ with Caesar 10 years on, so he is actually a much older character that is now a leader, a statesman-like figure,” Serkis says. “He has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, and therefore there’s a lot of gravitas in that performance. He’s more physically upright. He’s more human-like, I suppose, in his physicality.” Continue reading ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’: Keri Russell, Gary Oldman and Andy Serkis promise new drama

I didn’t realize Gary Oldman speaks so slowly. That accounts for the brevity of this interview, but I was indeed speaking with Oldman and Keri Russell at WonderCon for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Hey, I’ll eat up my time listening to Gary Oldman talk. Let’s call it deliberate. As Troy McClure’s agent would say, these acclaimed actors play…. the humans. Ellie (Russell) and Dreyfus (Oldman) are survivors of the epidemic that wiped out most of humanity, and they are about to witness Caesar (Andy Serkis) bring the apes to power.

CraveOnline: Is a harmonious existence between humans and apes out of the question?

Keri Russell: Well, I think that’s the question of this film. No, and I think this moment there’s hope for it. This moment, that’s what we’re asking. Could it happen? Continue reading WonderCon 2014: Gary Oldman & Keri Russell on Dawn of the Planet of the Apes