It’s Caesar vs. The Colonel in the epic final trailer for War For the Planet of the Apes, 20th Century Fox and Matt Reeves’ (The Batman) blockbuster threequel in which the tension between humanity and those radically evolved simians reaches an all-time high.
Fighting for apes and his own twisted sense of revenge is Andy Serkis’ glowering Caesar, who has grown to become a full-fledged Messiah figure for the surviving simians. But if Caesar wants peace, July’s tentpole will have our CGI protagonist preparing for war, particularly after the introduction of Woody Harrelson’s fittingly badass Colonel.
Straddling the line between Western and full-blown war movie, writer-director Matt Reeves has talked in the past about how War For the Planet of the Apes is set to become one of, if not the darkest entries in the franchise to date, and that can only portend all kinds of danger for Caesar and his fractured ape army.
Also starring Steve Zahn, Amiah Miller, Karin Konoval, Judy Greer and Terry Notary, War For the Planet of the Apes has a real shot of becoming the first Apes movie to crack a billion dollars at the international box office. Buoyed by the back-to-back success of Rise ($481 million) and Dawn ($716 million), there’s a particular weight of expectation resting on the broad, fuzzy shoulders of Reeves’ tentpole, and after this show-stopping final trailer, we’re intrigued to discover how the latest (final?) chapter in Caesar’s story unfolds. July 14th can’t come quick enough.
Those venturing out to see Alien: Covenant this weekend (our review) will no doubt catch today’s suitably epic trailer on the silver screen – Covenant and Matt Reeves’ starry blockbuster both hail from Fox – with the final cut of War For the Planet of the Apes expected to gallop into theaters on July 14th. A primetime summer release window will no doubt help drive ticket sales, but how will Matt Reeves’ long-brewing threequel fare with the critics? Time will tell.
In War for the Planet of the Apes, the third chapter of the critically acclaimed blockbuster franchise, Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.