‘War for The Planet Of The Apes’ Director On Capturing Brilliant Ape Performances

War for the Planet of the Apes is currently dominating the box office, and for good reason. Matt Reeves‘ conclusion to the trilogy managed to bring the house down with its action sequences, while still being an emotional masterpiece.

With that in mind, much of the success of this Apes franchise lies in the process of turning actors into photo-realistic primates.

War for the Planet of the Apes: Official Review

From the direction of Reeves, to the performances of stars like Andy Serkis and Steve Zahn, to the visual effects of the folks at Weta Digital, the process is mind-boggling, to say the least.

Ahead of the film’s premiere, Reeves took some time to talk with PopCulture about bringing the apes to life, and what it’s like to watch a character go from an actor in a motion-capture suit, to a real ape on the big screen.

Reeves stated that the movie goes through so many edits before it’s done, that the apes and their actors have slowly become one in his mind.

Visual Effects Supervisor on Bringing War for the Planet of the Apes to Life

“I can’t see Caesar without seeing Andy [Serkis]. I can’t see Bad Ape without seeing Steve [Zahn]. I can’t see Maurice or Rocket without seeing Karin [Konoval] or Terry [Notary]. It’s really a very painstaking process about translating the emotion from these performances onto the faces of these photo-real apes.”

Check out the full interview with Matt Reeves in the video above, and check out War for the Planet of the Apes, now playing in theaters.

Photo Credit: Chernin Entertainment