Big island lava Let the battle between apes and humans begin.
field to be battlefield
for the apes
Tim Burton's version of this
By Tim Ryan
science-fiction classic moves to
Hawaii for an action-packed
week of production
Star-BulletinProduction of one of filmdom's most recognizable franchises, "Planet of the Apes," begins tomorrow on the Big Island with location shooting scheduled for about a week in well-secured private and public property.
One of the major production areas will be a desolate, desert-like lava field (in the Kalapana area just outside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park) that will form the backdrop for a major battle scene featuring horse-riding apes.
More than 250 cast and crew from Los Angeles for the Twentieth Century Fox science-action adventure are staying in Kohala Coast hotels during the production. The film is directed by Tim Burton and stars Mark Wahlberg as astronaut Leo Davidson.
Other actors include Tim Roth (as the ape Thade); Helena Bonham Carter (Ari); Paul Giamatti (Limbo); Michael Clarke Duncan (Attar); Estella Warren (Daena); Kauai resident Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Krull); Glenn Shadix (Sen. Nado); David Warner (Sen. Sandar); Kris Kristofferson (Karubi); Erick Avari (Tival); Evan Dexter Parke (Gunnar); Luke Eberl (Birn) and original cast members Linda Harrison and Charlton Heston in cameo roles.
"Planet" is the most prominent film since "Waterworld" -- which cost about $175 million -- to use the Big Island as a location. Published reports say the budget of "Planet" could reach $150 million.Released in 1968, the original "Planet of the Apes" became an instant sci-fi classic that thrilled critics and audiences with its smart script, social commentary and famous surprise ending. Work on sequels began almost immediately, and the franchise spawned four more films and two TV shows before petering out in the mid-1970s.
"We're so pleased to be involved in a Tim Burton film," said Marilyn Killeri, Big Island film commissioner. "Visually he's a genius; whatever he puts on the screen is absolutely gorgeous."
Neither a direct remake of the classic that starred Heston nor a close adaptation of the novel by Pierre Boulle, this version, from a script by William Broyles Jr., is instead a "re-imagination" of the ape-planet concept, Burton said.
"The film is inspired by the entire series of 'Planet of the Apes,' rather than just the first film," he said.
Richard D. Zanuck, who was in charge of Twentieth Century Fox when the studio made the original "Apes" 33 years ago, told Variety that "the idea of the whole upside-down world where men are the servants and apes are in charge is the same.
"Outside of that, they're entirely new characters, an entirely different story," he said.
There are still lots of people in ape costumes, similar to the masks from the original, only updated and more articulated to better show off the actors beneath. The make-up work is being done by five-time Academy Award-winner Rick Baker.
Other regular Burton crew members include Academy Award-winning production designer Rick Heinrichs, Academy Award-nominated composer Danny Elfman and Academy Award-nominated costume designer Colleen Atwood.
Some 200 potential extras showed up last week at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel hoping to get a chance at portraying human slaves. Casting officials were looking for 10 men, five women and eight children. One extra would be a stand-in for "Green Mile" star Michael Clarke Duncan. Wardrobe fitting is today.
Reportedly, there is a big shocker ending, perhaps as shocking to modern audiences as the Statue of Liberty shot at the end of the original, sources said.
Here's the story through various public reports, though the script is top secret: After crash- landing on a strange alien world, American astronaut Leo Davidson soon discovers the dominant species are simians: apes and monkeys have fashioned an intelligent but savage civilization. In this world, human beings are considered at best slaves; at worst, nuisances to be destroyed.
Davidson soon finds he has allies in this strange place, including the nomadic beauty Daena, her tribal father Karubi, and Ari, a chimpanzee who favored human rights long before she found herself drawn to Davidson.
As the brutal Gen. Thade closes in on Davidson and his newfound companions, the stranded astronaut must make his way through the barren landscape the apes call "the Forbidden Zone" to learn the ancient and terrible secret history that birthed the planet of the apes.
One of the transportation expenses was shipping a large number of the elaborate ape costumes to the Big Island.
The suits contain more than 20 separate pieces, including a full body unitard and an upper- torso muscle suit. This hooks under the crotch then snaps in the back. Then there's a heavy pair of pants held up with suspenders.
Then comes the upper torso jacket, which the wearer must step through a belt to get in.
Once that's on, the actors must hook fasteners around their chests and zip them up, then belt on armor for the upper thighs. There's shin armor, boots -- black aqua socks modified with extended ape toes on the ends -- larger black boots with fur up the tongue, chest hair pieces, then heavy chest and shoulder armor. Masks are either full head masks or come with velcro straps around the back.
According to earlier casting reports, actors under 5-foot-10 were cast as chimps; those 5-foot-11 and over as gorillas.
The makeup has a high standard to meet as the original film earned a special Oscar for transforming scores of actors into a believable army of intelligent simians.
The soldier apes will be replicated via computer to number in the thousands.
The film's release date is July 27.
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