'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' delivers first-ever side-by-side cut of raw footage with final film (exclusive)
ew.com
'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' is releasing a cut of the film using raw footage side-by-side with the final version — the first time an entire movie has been shown this way. Director Wes Ball exclusively tells Entertainment Weekly why he wanted to release this version.

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Director Wes Ball’s new installment in the franchise, which takes place 300 years after 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes, comes out on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on Aug. 27, and that is the only way fans can see a side-by-side cut of the movie using the raw performance-capture footage next to the final version — the first time an entire film has been released this way.

“Inside the Lens: The Raw Cut” is a full-length split-screen version of the movie included as a special feature on the 4K Blu-ray, featuring unfinished VFX and showing how the actors use motion capture to deliver their performances as apes with optional audio commentary by the director, editor Dan Zimmerman, and VFX supervisor Erik Winquist.

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“During the year or so spent in post-production, working on more than 1,500 VFX shots, we would frequently compare our VFX works-in-progress with the original footage, ensuring we were getting the details right,” Ball tells EW. “I often found myself completely mesmerized by the magic of WetaFX’s work and how seamlessly it translated from the raw dailies. Around the latter half of post, it struck me how fantastic it would be to share this experience with fans like myself — those who relish peeking behind the curtain of movie making.”

Ball was pleasantly surprised at the response he got to his idea. “When I brought the idea to the studio, there was unsurprisingly no resistance,” he says. “They, too, are film nerds and thought it was a cool idea. The only challenge we faced was logistical — navigating the technicalities of ‘data budgets’ and figuring out how to include an entirely separate version of the film on the discs without sacrificing visual quality.”

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Ball was inspired to release this raw cut because he grew up “in the era of DVDs and their rich behind-the-scenes features.”

“I often found myself watching those documentaries more than the movies themselves,” he says. “Unfortunately, we don’t get a lot of that stuff today. So this release is my way of giving back, offering something that would have inspired me as a young filmmaker. Perhaps more importantly, I see this as a unique way to celebrate the extraordinary work of our VFX team at WetaFX, as well as the unseen talent of our amazing actors. Without their dedication, these films simply wouldn’t exist.”