Rise of the Planet of the Apes Trailer

Posted by on April 14th, 2011   Filed under: Drama, Sci-fi, Trailers

A couple of days ago Fox premiered a ridiculously short clip of footage from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, showcasing the cutting edge FX work by WETA. It wasn’t nearly enough to judge the movie on, but fortunately they have followed it up today with the film’s first trailer. They really seem to be basing the marketing around the special effects, even going so far as to make a direct connection to Avatar, although it looks a lot more like Peter Jackson’s King Kong if you ask me. Surprisingly, the movie is not being shot in 3-D.

The trailer does not actually have a ton of action in it, which makes sense because I don’t think the final film will either. What it does do very well is establish the story and show why this is a prequel worth making as opposed to a straight up cash grab. I’m definitely intrigued, although I’m not sure that this will have a ton of mainstream appeal. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is directed by Rupert Wyatt and stars James Franco, Freida Pinto and Andy Serkis. Will you be checking this out when it hits theatres on August 11th? Watch the trailer after the jump.



  • Xidor

    I didn’t notice any cheesy reference to the previous films like the last Ape movie had. Maybe it will be good enough to launch the series again.

    I just hope when the remake Every Which Way but Loose, they don’t use a CGI monkey.

  • anton

    looks good..

  • Big Hungry

    I actually liked this more than I thought I would. Reminds me of a zombie movie a bit.

  • Jonny Ashley

    I was going to shit laughing if they started playing the 28 Days Later music. The monkeys seem very humorous to me, and I can’t shake that off.

  • Niklas

    Yeah, I like the look of this.

    – Its interesting how WETA is like a selling point these days..
    – The Rise of the Planet of the Apes has to be the clunkiest title in a while.

  • 1138sw

    Not bad and yeah just like Big Hungry said reminds me of a zombie movie as well.

    Love Franco but he seems stiff in this movie and the lines seem kind generic.

    But I am intrigued and this should be way better than the Burton’s disaster remake.

  • Bob The Slob

    “What it does do very well is establish the story and show why this is a prequel worth making as opposed to a straight up cash grab.”

    Sean, I love you man, I am a daily reader, love your reviews…but do you really think that there are mainstream studio movies that AREN’T “cash grabs” in the minds of the producers and execs funding them? To them its all a cash grab. Movies aren’t funded for ARTISTIC reasons. We all know this…you know this, I just wanted to point it out once every blue moon.

  • Niklas

    @Bob the Slob – There is still a difference. Anyone who invests money into anything wants to make a profit but you can still choose to try and make something good or to make something cheap based on a popular name.

  • Darksiders

    this looks silly. also the growing number of apes seems pretty unbelievable to me. what? they bite you and you turn into an ape? or they just reproduce is super speed-mo for the movie’s sake?

  • djangoscud

    Project X meets Charlie with some Dawn of the Dead. So it’s actually a mash up.

  • Looks pretty cool to me. I love Franco and I’m digging the concept… I’m sure it will have problems but what fucking blockbuster doesn’t. I’m in.

  • Juan

    The ape staring at the couple sleeping is kinda creepy but fun. Looks good

  • Nelson

    I really like the trailer. It raises some very interesting questions. It’s not a horror movie but it’s pretty close to the kind of movie that I enjoy watching in the place of the horror movies that I prefer not to watch. It’s the kind of movie that makes you think about the world and actually about people, and apes, at the same time.

    I will definitely check it out, it seems like a smart movie. I don’t mind the lack of action as long as I don’t find myself sitting in the theater, dozing off, due to boredom.

  • Hunter

    The trailer looks cool but yet another movie using Inception’s brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrh sound-effect.

  • I finally got around to seeing this trailer. It’s good to know that the current state of CGI is able to make apes look like people in monkey suits.

  • MNSTRFCKR

    Looks like shit to me.

  • Hugh

    Leave those poor apes alone!

    They always seem perfectly content throwing feces at each other in the zoo.

    It’s a bit of a stretch to consider them to be bent on world domination and the subjegation of the human race.

  • 20-Ape Days Later.

  • Napalm

    The CGI looks fantastic! Looking forward to it. Should be fun.

  • Nelson

    What! That was cgi?!? Those aren’t real apes!!! :p

  • Ha ha, Kurt — 20-Ape Days Later. :)

    After watching the trailer, I’m optimistic. It’s a nice update for the 21st century: instead of nuclear war, this time it’s pharmaceuticals.