The intelligent chimpanzee Caesar has been the lead character of all the current Planet of the Apes films so far, but it's been noteworthy that each story has continued to see a dwindling role for humans to play in the larger narrative. It makes one wonder if it's possible that we could eventually see a movie in the canon that features no human characters at all -- and one person who definitely thinks that idea is on the table is franchise star Andy Serkis, who told me the following this past summer:
When you think about it, emotionally there are many, many more scenes with just apes in [War For The Planet Of The Apes] than there are humans. The Woody Harrelson scenes, the Colonel, are the main thrust of the human interactions. So absolutely, it's perfectly possible, yeah.
With War For The Planets Of The Apes still in theaters, I had the opportunity to sit down with Andy Serkis at the Fox Home Entertainment booth at San Diego Comic-Con this summer, and it was while discussing the advancing technology that I asked the actor/producer about the possibility of a human-less Planet Of the Apes story. Serkis agreed that motion-capture filmmaking has definitely gotten to a point where audiences don't necessarily need Homo sapien characters to tell a story, and the focus can entirely be on the CGI creatures.
As noted by Andy Serkis, War For The Planet Of The Apes definitely makes the concept very possible. Not only do ape characters get the bulk of the screentime in the film, but there is even a developing conflict generated in the plot that can be expanded in future stories. The Planet of the Apes franchise has a legacy of chimpanzee vs. gorilla in-fighting that is introduced in the latest Matt Reeves blockbuster, and one could definitely see a future sequel putting that particular battle front and center.
You can watch Andy Serkis talk about the future of the Planet of the Apes franchise and the possibility of a human-less narrative by clicking play on the video below!
For those of you who missed War For The Planet Of The Apes in theaters or are excited for the opportunity to see it again, the good news is that the film is now available for Digital Download purchase. And for those of you patiently waiting for the Blu-ray, you'll be able to pick up a copy when it hits stores on October 24th.
