WAMG’s Conversation with Screenwriters Amanda Silver & Rick Jaffa Of RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

I’m such an avid fan of the PLANET OF THE APES films – even the TV Show and Animated Series. To me it’s the greatest franchise in movie history. Having seen RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, the film is truly a welcomed addition to the series and one of the best films of 2011!

You can imagine how thrilled I was to receive an email with an invitation to speak with screenwriters of RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa. I had the great pleasure of talking to these two writers, producers (and married couple) and found to my giddy delight that we share a common love of animals and all things APES!

The following is our conversation on the film, CGI apes, animal rights and spaceships.

Michelle: In many ways RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES is like the 1972 CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Both Caesar’s have been raised from infants by humans and then grow up to ultimately take over the world. Speaking as an animal lover, how the animals are treated in both films just breaks the heart.

How much were you influenced by the 4th installment of the series?

Rick Jaffa: In reality we weren’t influenced in any way. The story came together and we realized that was our next movie.

Amanda Silver: Rick had clipped out stories over the years on how hard it is on chimps being raised in captivity or by humans. It’s not a natural environment for them.

Rick: They eventually become wild, aggressive animals.

Amanda: We realized it was a perfect way to make a reboot and had to figure out how to sell it to Fox. It was our egress into a PLANET OF THE APES story.

Rick: The story laid out for us pretty quickly. All the articles we had read about cloning and genetic engineering besides people raising chimps. I suggested a reimagining of the story to Fox executive, Peter Kang, five years ago and he loved the idea. It was a way to reinvent the franchise and once Fox got onboard in 2006 it developed fairly quickly.

Amanda: RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES is an origin story. A way for the audience to see what happened prior to Col. Taylor arriving on Earth in the year 3978. We wrote a pivotal scene that ties the two together. The whole movie hinges on that scene.

Rick: (laughs) We can’t tell you now, but it’ll be huge for the die-hards. We wanted to create a story that will ultimately stand on its own to create a new fan base. But yes, we did start with CONQUEST. Once we decided on RISE, we watched the first five films from beginning to end.

We have a son who is 16 and a son who is 20 and they like the original (1968) but that’s about it. We brought our 9 year old nephew to the screening and he loved it. So we’re hoping to bring youngsters in. They’ll be many Easter Eggs throughout for the fans like yourself.

Michelle: What do you think of the CGI apes used in RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES as opposed to using real monkeys or even going with the masks and makeup route?

Amanda: Well it’s all about animal rights. Man’s hubris for testing on animals – they’re sentient beings! So using real animals goes against our theme. In 2006, when we came up with the idea, the technology wasn’t in place yet. By the time the story was ready the technology had caught up.

Rick: Jump a few years ahead to Jim Cameron and AVATAR and WETA Digital – the CGI apes really look fantastic! So no makeup or masks were thought of or, as far as we know, discussed.

Amanda: The film is present day reality. What would happen today if intelligent apes got loose. What could happen to lead Taylor to an Earth that was run by Apes.

Rick: Tom Rothman (20th Century Fox) and the rest of the people over at Fox were very supportive of using CGI. We all hoped at the early stages that people would buy the CGI apes.

Amanda: This was WETA’s first time using performance capture as a fully integrated part of the live action performance. It’s groundbreaking what they did. We were very lucky with the end results.

Michelle: I’m a huge APES fan, I love that the movie is filled with character names from the earlier films like Caesar, Landon, Dodge, Cornelia, Rocket who is called Bright Eyes. Some brilliant nods to the actors and filmmakers of the original like Buck the gorilla who in the original is Taylor’s jailer Julius (played by actor Buck Kartalian), an orangutan named Maurice (after Maurice Evans’ Dr Zaius in the 1968 version), producer Arthur P. Jacobs and director Franklin Schaffner.

With so many great winks in the prequel to connect the die-hards, can you tell me what sort of clever clues we’ll see from your script toward future films?

Amanda: You should see Rick’s face. (laughs) He has a huge grin on it that you discovered Buck’s name.

Rick: Out of the many reporters we’ve spoken to, you’re the first reporter to say that. Great! (laughs) It’s exactly that kind of thing we put in for people to find. Some hints are very strong – Easter eggs if you will. Some people at the screening did miss them, but there are many hints to the future and to the next film. I don’t want to give anything away other than many will be sitting there in the theater and will let out a laugh – even elbowing the person beside them “Hey, did you catch that?” when they see the references to the previous films.

Michelle: Any pressure to live up to the legacy of the APES franchise?

Rick: Huge amount of pressure, of course. We tried to create a story to honor the original and to respect the legacy.

Amanda: We wanted to respect the fans. It’s built around the APES mythology and the fans are so passionate.

Rick: But after a while you have to put that pressure in a box, close the door and get on with it. We knew we were in good hands once the director, Rupert (Wyatt), was hired.

Michelle: And that leads to my next question. I really liked THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE.

Amanda: (laughs) Oh thanks!

Michelle: Holy moly, were there a lot of jumpy moments. I saw it in Boise Idaho at an early test screening and we were mainly asked on what our reaction was to the ending. It was so suspenseful. Can we expect the same kind of combination suspense/human story in RISE OF THE APES and how well did director Rupert Wyatt interpret your script and your message.

Amanda: Well with CRADLE, it’s a different tension, but it’s there in both films. In APES it’s all about what’s going to happen to Caesar and (James) Franco and (John) Lithgow. How it’s resolved.

Rick: In CRADLE, you knew where the “devil” was the whole time. We lead the audience right along with all sorts of hints right up to very end, but with a human story. There’s a certain palette on APES. (Freida) Pinto’s character warns at the beginning of how strong be. She says, “he may be cute now, but he’ll grow up.” It’s a good setup that Caesar’s going to get out of the lab.

Amanda: RISE OF THE APES – it’s very suspenseful and filled with action. The audience we saw it with was really into the movie. Hopefully it will keep you on your toes, keep the audience guessing.

Michelle: Sounds like you both were pleased with (Rupert) Wyatt as director and the end result.

Amanda: Very much so. Wyatt is very collaborative in this type of medium. He really lived up to our expectations and beyond. Rupert has instilled the overall idea in all of us that we are bringing realistic-looking chimps into the mix. So, we started at ground zero. It’s a fresh new approach to the Planet of the Apes film series. We’re presenting primates as we know them. We’re giving them an additional level of intelligence and subtle human tendencies.

Rick: After you finish a script you’re always worried what the director will do with it or how they’ll change it. With Rupert, he totally got it. We’d be on the set, hearing the words we wrote and we were watching a scene happen. We thought, “We’re gonna look so smart!” (laughs) Rupert is the type of director that’s in tune with the writers.

Michelle: Any references to Charlton Heston’s “George Taylor” or spaceships to lead us into the next movie?

Rick: (pauses) Yes! And Yes! (laughs)

Amanda: Oh go ahead and tell her.

Rick: Okay…

Amanda: No wait, don’t. (laughs) Don’t blink. Don’t go to the bathroom.

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES opens in the U.S. on August 5, 2011