Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes Director Confirms Home Release Cut - Without Any Apes

Summary Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes director Wes Ball says the home release will include a version of the movie without motion capture effects.

The Planet of the Apes franchise utilizes impressive VFX to bring ape characters to life.

The detailed VFX in the upcoming film will have to compete with the original trilogy, but could surpass it given Ball's confidence.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes director Wes Ball has revealed the home release for the movie will include a version that doesn't have any apes. The upcoming film takes place 300 years after War for the Planet of the Apes, following a young ape named Noa as he tries to stop the tyrannical Proximus Caesar from subjugating apes and humans alike. The film features mostly ape characters, all of whom are brought to life through motion capture VFX.

However, in an interview with Ape Nation (via GamesRadar) ahead of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' release, Ball revealed the home release for the upcoming film will contain a version of the movie without motion capture effects. The director explained it would be a raw cut with actors in motion capture suits, featuring commentary explaining how certain elements of the film were achieved visually. Check out what Ball had to say about this alternate cut below:

I'm doing a little thing for the DVD where you can watch the movie – the entire movie – with the raw dailies. I'm working on that, where you'll be able to watch and see both the final [cut] and the raw dailies. You can see how close they get, what they do, and how they stitch everything together. It's amazing, and you can just sit there and enjoy it. I'll do some commentary over it with Erik [Winquist], our VFX [supervisor]. I think it's gonna be great. For geeks like us, it's gonna be a first. They've never seen this kind of thing. Some of the hardest stuff in VFX is how you get CG characters to interact with others. So we have a human girl hugging a CG ape and it's like, 'How do you do that?'

Detailed VFX Are An Impressive Part Of The Planet Of The Apes Franchise

Image via Paramount Pictures

Ever since the series was rebooted during Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the franchise has utilized detailed VFX to bring the apes of the series to life. The attention to detail present throughout the original trilogy showcases how lifelike the apes are, from the start of the first movie all the way to the end of War for the Planet of the Apes. Promotional material for the upcoming fourth installment reveals this level of detail is going to continue, making the core, non-human characters blend together with the physical people in the film.

The impressive nature of each movie's effects has helped every entry in the reboot trilogy to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects. While none of the movies have ever won the award, the fact they were nominated in the first place highlights how characters like Caesar, Koba, and Bad Ape were given ample attention to detail in being made real. It also means Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes has a high bar to climb up to when bringing Noa and Proximus Caesar to life.

However, with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' cast playing almost entirely ape characters, the level of effort going into the film's visuals will likely be extremely high. Since Ball is planning to release a cut that goes over the details of how certain VFX were achieved, the movie could end up with many impressive moments that surpass even the original reboot trilogy. With the movie just a few weeks away, the extent of the VFX will soon be revealed, probably justifying Ball's decision to release a version without motion capture.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes arrives in theaters on May 10, 2024.

Source: Ape Nation (via GamesRadar)