The cliffhanger that left audiences at the edge of their seats in the "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" in 2014 has been the source of much speculation regarding the future of Caesar and his brood. With an ending that was ripe with sequel possibilities, fans and followers of the films have been eagerly anticipating the next chapter of the story. It appears that the wait might finally be over - at least for the potential plot of the next installment - since Collider revealed that the title for the next film will be "War of the Planet of the Apes."
Matt Reeves, the director of "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," revealed in an earlier interview that the group had an ending different to what was eventually shown to the public. Instead of concluding the said film with Caesar's words, "War has already begun. Ape started war. And human... Human will not forgive," Reeves shared that they first intended to go a "step further." However, he eventually realized that doing so might limit the possibilities for upcoming flicks.
"We actually did have an ending that went one step further, and I realized late in the game, 'Wait a minute. I don't want us to be boxed in in this way," Reeves disclosed. "I think we should be left with a more open-knowing that we were going to figure out what the next story is-I didn't want to in a way narrow our options.' I wanted to open them up," he added.
He shared, "What was really most important was to leave you in that emotional space with Caesar, which is the ending of the movie that you've seen, and know that the future is coming, but not already be at that future. Because the moment is really about the moment that's past."
"It could have been the planet of the humans and the apes, and that parting between Caesar and Malcolm is a very emotional moment to me, and I didn't want something that distracted and became something else," Reeves further explained.
Meanwhile, Andy Serkis said in MTV News that the story might become a trilogy, or even more. "It might be three films," the actor said. "It could be four. It could be five. Who knows? The journey will continue. It might not necessarily be summarized or completely fulfilled in this next one. The point being, eventually we know that we're going to end up back at 'The Planet of the Apes,' but whether it's this film or not, I don't know," he shared, referring to the then unreleased "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes."
"War of the Planet of the Apes" will hit theatres on July 14, 2017.
