"Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes" Goes Wild In Theaters This Weekend

Opening in wide release this weekend is Twentieth Century Fox’s prequel to the classic Charleton Heston movie, Planet Of The Apes, a reboot titled .

It’s said to be a completely new take on one of the Studio’s most beloved and successful franchises, with extensive visual effects provided by Oscar-winning visual effects house WETA Digital – employing the groundbreaking technologies developed for Lord of the Rings and Avatar to render, for the first time ever in the film series, photo-realistic apes rather than costumed actors.

Rise of The Planet of The Apes is an origin story in the truest sense of the term. Set in present day San Francisco, the film is a reality-based cautionary tale, a science fiction/science fact blend, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.

James Franco reportedly beat out several of Hollywood’s young elite actors for the coveted starring role in the film, which also features performances from celebrated thespians like Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo, and Andy Serkis.

Thus far, 37 critics have submitted their reviews of the movie, and 31 of them give it a thumbs up, according to movie review aggregator site, RottenTomatoes.com. Needless to say, with an 84% approval rating, the film gets the critical pass. And without much new competition in theaters this weekend, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes should win the box office crown, toppling Cowboys And Aliens, and the Smurfs movie which ruled last weekend’s contest.

Here’s the trailer which I’m sure most have already seen:

Tambay Obenson is editor of Shadow And Act on the indieWIRE Network at blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact