Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a 2011 American science fiction action film directed by Rupert Wyatt from a screenplay by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. It is a reboot of the Planet of the Apes film series, the seventh installment overall and the first in the reboot series. The film stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, and Andy Serkis. Set in 2016, the film follows Caesar (Serkis), a genetically enhanced chimpanzee who is first raised by chemist Will Rodman (Franco) before ultimately leading an ape uprising against humanity. Rise of the Planet of the Apes first entered development in 2006 when Jaffa and Silver wrote a spec script and sold it to 20th Century Fox, the producers and distributors of the original film series. Production struggled until Franco, Serkis, and Wyatt were hired by late 2009, and principal photography started in July 2010 and finished that September, with filming locations including Vancouver, San Francisco, and Oahu. The apes were created using extensive visual effects and motion capture commissioned by Weta Digital. Rise of the Planet of the Apes was released in the United States on August 5, 2011. The film received positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success, grossing over $481 million worldwide against a budget of $93 million. It received numerous awards and nominations, including nominations for Best Visual Effects and Best Special Visual Effects at the 84th Academy Awards and 65th British Academy Film Awards, respectively. It helped relaunch the franchise, and was followed by the sequels Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024).