Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a 2014 American science fiction action film directed by Matt Reeves and written by Mark Bomback and the writing team of Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. The sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), it is the second installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot film series and the eighth film overall. It stars Andy Serkis as Caesar, alongside Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell and Kodi Smit-McPhee. The film takes place in 2026, 10 years after the events of Rise and follows a group of human survivors as they battle to stay alive in the wake of a deadly pandemic, while Caesar tries to maintain control over his expanding ape community which could lead to an all-out war between apes and humans.
A sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes was announced in 2011, with the return of both Serkis and Rupert Wyatt confirmed that November. Wyatt departed the film in September 2012, and Reeves was hired as his replacement that October. Casting took place between February and March 2013, with none of the additional original main cast members returning. Principal photography commenced that April and lasted until that July, with filming locations including Campbell River, Vancouver Island, and New Orleans. The apes were created using visual effects and motion capture as commissioned by Weta Digital, with the film featuring greater use of these components during action sequences and to create other animals.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes premiered on June 26, 2014, at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco and was theatrically released worldwide by 20th Century Fox on July 11. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed over $710 million, making it the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2014 and the highest-grossing film in the franchise. It also received numerous awards and nominations, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. The sequel, War for the Planet of the Apes, was released in 2017.
Plot
In 2026, ten years after a "Simian Flu" pandemic, humans are nearly extinct, with only about 1 in 500 (0.2%) genetically immune. Human civilization was destroyed after societal collapse. The apes, all bestowed with genetically enhanced intelligence by the virus, establish a colony in the Muir Woods National Monument, led by Caesar, along with his lieutenants Maurice, Rocket and Koba.
A group of humans, led by Malcolm, unknowingly enter the apes' territory, searching for a hydroelectric dam that would restore power to their community in San Francisco's ruins. Carver, a member of Malcolm's group, injures Ash, Rocket's son, in fear. Malcolm manages to prevent further escalation, and Caesar orders the humans to leave. Prompted by Koba, Caesar brings his army to the human community as a show of strength. Caesar announces that, while the apes do not want war, they will fight to defend themselves; he demands the humans stay in their territory. Malcolm convinces Dreyfus, the community's leader, to give him a chance to take a small team to the forest to negotiate with the apes and access the dam. Eventually, Caesar allows them to work on the generator, but on the condition that they surrender their guns. While working together, Malcolm, his nurse wife, Ellie, and his son, Alexander, bond with the apes. The truce briefly falls apart when Carver is discovered to have kept a hidden shotgun and is thus forcibly sent away, but trust is restored when Ellie saves Cornelia, Caesar's ill wife.
Presuming that the apes may attack, Dreyfus arms the community with the munitions at the Fort Point armory. Koba, who has a vendetta on humans for torturing him in laboratories, discovers the armory and confronts Caesar, accusing him of caring more about humans than apes. Caesar beats Koba in response but refrains from killing him. Koba kills two guards in the armory to steal a rifle and returns home. He secretly kills Carver after the humans succeed in repairing the generator. Koba uses their celebration to covertly set fire and shoot Caesar, who falls into the underbrush. Koba frames the humans for Caesar's apparent death and the fire to justify war. Taking command, he leads the ape army to San Francisco, where they plunder the armory and mount a full-scale assault on the humans. Despite taking heavy casualties, the apes breach the building and imprison the humans as Dreyfus flees. Koba kills Ash for refusing to kill humans and imprisons all other apes loyal to Caesar, including Rocket, Maurice and Luca.
Malcolm's family finds a severely wounded Caesar and transports him to his former home in San Francisco. After sneaking back into the settlement to find medical supplies, Malcolm encounters Blue Eyes, Caesar's young son, and Blue Eyes accompanies Malcolm to Caesar after learning his father is alive. Learning that Koba shot Caesar, Blue Eyes reconciles with his father, who admits that Koba's actions showed him how apes can be as vicious as humans. The trio returns to the community and frees the imprisoned humans and apes. After escorting the apes into the tower, Malcolm finds Dreyfus, who has rigged the tower base with explosives, and reveals that his men contacted a military base. Malcolm holds Dreyfus at gunpoint to give Caesar enough time to retake command by confronting Koba at the top of the tower. In an attempt to kill the apes, Dreyfus detonates explosives to destabilize the building, dying in the process. Caesar defeats Koba and lets him fall to his death, declaring him no longer an ape for his sins.
Malcolm warns Caesar of the approaching human military. Believing that the humans will never forgive the apes for their attack, Caesar tells Malcolm to leave with his family for safety before the fighting begins. He then addresses the apes as they prepare for the upcoming war.
Cast
Apes Andy Serkis as Caesar, a chimpanzee who is the leader to the tribe of enhanced apes Toby Kebbell as Koba, a treacherous bonobo whose abusive past caused him to develop a vendetta against humans Judy Greer as Cornelia, Caesar's chimpanzee wife Nick Thurston as Blue Eyes, Caesar's young chimpanzee son Terry Notary as Rocket, Caesar's loyal chimpanzee lieutenant Karin Konoval as Maurice, a Bornean orangutan and Caesar's loyal adviser and best friend Doc Shaw as Ash, Rocket's young chimpanzee son and the best friend to Blue Eyes Lee Ross as Grey, a chimpanzee and one of Koba's followers Richard King as Stone, a chimpanzee and one of Koba's followers Scott Lang as Luca, a western lowland gorilla and the chief commander of the gorilla guards in Caesar's tribe
Humans Jason Clarke as Malcolm, a former architect and the leader of the small group that forms a strong bond with Caesar and the other apes, Alexander's father, and Ellie's husband Gary Oldman as Dreyfus, a former police officer from the SFPD and the leader of the remaining human survivors Keri Russell as Ellie, a former nurse at the Centers for Disease Control, Malcolm's wife, and Alexander's stepmother Kodi Smit-McPhee as Alexander, Malcolm's son from a previous marriage and Ellie's stepson Kirk Acevedo as Carver, a former San Francisco water worker and a member of Malcolm's group Jon Eyez as Foster, a member of Malcolm's group Enrique Murciano as Kemp, a member of Malcolm's group Keir O'Donnell as Finney, an ally of Dreyfus Kevin Rankin as McVeigh, a guard at the colony's armory Jocko Sims as Werner, the colony's radio operator
Additionally, James Franco makes an uncredited appearance as Will Rodman through unused footage from Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
Production
Development After the release of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, director Rupert Wyatt commented on possible sequels: "I think we're ending with certain questions, which is quite exciting. To me, I can think of all sorts of sequels to this film, but this is just the beginning." Screenwriter and producer Rick Jaffa also stated that Rise featured several clues as to future sequels: "I hope that we're building a platform for future films. We're trying to plant a lot of the seeds for a lot of the things you are talking about in terms of the different apes and so forth."
In an interview recorded after the release of Rise, Wyatt stated, "We want to grow and evolve, in the films that will [hopefully] come after this, to the '68 original." Wyatt also stated that he wants it to take place eight years after Rise, as a whole new ape generation can be born, and explore the dynamics of Caesar and Koba's relationship. According to screenwriter Rick Jaffa, a version of the spaceship from the 1968 Planet of the Apes under the name Icarus was in Rise as a deliberate hint to a possible sequel.
In November 2011, Andy Serkis was the first to be announced as having closed a deal for a sequel to Rise. It was reported to be a "healthy seven-figure deal" for him to reprise his role as Caesar, the ape leader. On May 15, 2012, it was announced Scott Z. Burns had been hired to do rewrites on the original screenplay by Rise writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. On May 31, 2012, 20th Century Fox announced that the sequel would be titled Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
On September 17, 2012, there were reports that director Wyatt was considering leaving the sequel due to his concern that a May 2014 release date would not give him enough time to make the film properly. On October 1, Cloverfield director Matt Reeves was confirmed as his replacement. Reeves had been working on developing the new Twilight Zone film. On October 18, Mark Bomback, writer of Live Free or Die Hard, was reported to be doing a re-write for Reeves.
Casting In December 2012, after the departure of director Wyatt, James Franco speculated that he would not return for the sequel as his character Will Rodman, saying "Now Rupert's not a part of it so my guess is I won't be in it." Freida Pinto, who played primatologist Caroline Aranha in Rise, confirmed that she would not return for Dawn. In April 2014, when asked by IGN about the fate of Franco and Pinto's characters, producer Dylan Clark said they died due to the Simian Flu.
In February 2013, actors Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke and Kodi Smit-McPhee were cast in lead roles for the sequel, set ten years after the events from the first film. In March 2013, actress Keri Russell was cast in a role. That same month, Judy Greer was cast as Cornelia, a female chimpanzee and love interest for Caesar. Toby Kebbell, Enrique Murciano and Kirk Acevedo joined the cast during filming. On May 15, 2013, Jocko Sims was cast in a supporting role of military operative Werner.
Filming Filming began in April 2013 around the town of Campbell River, British Columbia. The location of Vancouver Island was chosen for its similarity to the locations depicted in the film, the forests, and the variety of landscapes. Filming in New Orleans started in May 2013 and continued in July 2013 at various locations such as the ex-Six Flags park Six Flags New Orleans.
Visual effects Like Rise, visual effects for Dawn were done by Weta Digital. In addition to the apes, Weta created other digital animals, such as a herd of elk, a grizzly bear, and computer-generated imagery (CGI) doubles of the live-action horses. The elk were created using key-frame animation and the digital crowd enhancement software MASSIVE, the bear through key-frame animation, and the horses with a mixture of key-frame animation and motion-capture.
Music
The film score was composed and arranged by Michael Giacchino, who had collaborated with Reeves on Cloverfield (2008) and Let Me In (2010). Giacchino referenced Jerry Goldsmith's themes for the 1968 film and Danny Elfman's themes for the 2001 film, while also incorporating his own themes referencing the score for Lost (20042010) and Super 8 (2011). The soundtrack was released by Sony Classical Records on July 8, 2014.
Release