--- title: Planet of the Apes: The Science Behind it description: There's science behind the new sci-fi movie—some of it turns out to be pretty sound canonical: https://time.com/2977183/planet-of-the-apes-science/ author: Michael Lemonick article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-11T21:40:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:06:13.358Z article:section: Science og:title: Planet of the Apes: That Couldn't Happen....Right? og:description: There's science behind the new sci-fi movie—some of it turns out to be pretty sound og:url: https://time.com/2977183/planet-of-the-apes-science/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95f80eccc363b794/69869b7ccd804d32c1ccbe68/dawn-of-the-planet-of-the-apes.jpg?branch=production&width=930&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 930 og:image:height: 523 og:image:alt: DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, Toby Kebbell, Andy Serkis, 2014. ph: David James/TM and ©Copyright og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Planet of the Apes: That Couldn't Happen....Right? twitter:description: There's science behind the new sci-fi movie—some of it turns out to be pretty sound twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95f80eccc363b794/69869b7ccd804d32c1ccbe68/dawn-of-the-planet-of-the-apes.jpg?branch=production&width=930&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Planet of the Apes: That Couldn't Happen....Right? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Future Proof: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Future Proof is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Making sense of the climate and energy economy. Future Proof examines the forces transforming energy and climate, and what those changes mean for business, technology, policy and the global economy. Senior correspondent Justin Worland goes beyond traditional climate coverage to connect the energy transition to the bigger decisions reshaping companies, markets and society. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=c1a05780-61a9-4f93-9a64-eb0dbc429fe1&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Friday (1x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Justin Worland, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership Senior leaders shaping the climate transition. An engaged audience of executives and decision-makers spanning operating companies, finance, policy, consulting, communications and media. ### TIME Future Proof: key statements * Future Proof is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * Future Proof is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=c1a05780-61a9-4f93-9a64-eb0dbc429fe1&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/subscribe?i=c1a05780-61a9-4f93-9a64-eb0dbc429fe1&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's climate and energy newsletter? Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Michael Lemonick](https://time.com/author/michael-d-lemonick/) ## Michael Lemonick Jul 11, 2014 9:40 PM UTC  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the eighth film in the series. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the eighth film in the series. Twentieth Century Fox/Courtesy of Everett Collection by [Michael Lemonick](https://time.com/author/michael-d-lemonick/) ## Michael Lemonick Jul 11, 2014 9:40 PM UTC Part of the job of any science reporter is to ruin your moviegoing experience. Blown away by _Gravity_? Here are all the ways they [got the science wrong](http://science.time.com/2013/10/01/what-gravity-gets-right-and-wrong-about-space/). Charmed by _A Beautiful Mind_? Sorry, it utterly [fails to capture the essence of mathematics](http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,190839,00.html) (and that moving [fountain-pen ceremony](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86CKsczBdu0) is a [total fabrication](http://www.princeton.edu/mudd/news/faq/topics/nash.shtml), says Princeton University, where it was supposed to have taken place, so there). Now comes [_Dawn of the Planet of the Apes_](http://time.com/2971082/dawn-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-review/), a film rich in opportunities to take scientific potshots. I mean, c’mon—super-intelligent chimps who form their own breakaway society? Which is in some ways more gentle and noble than the human one they left behind, although they’ll fight if they must? How absurd is that? Could such a thing ever happen? Well, not next week, but while _Dawn_ isn’t exactly reality based, the science underneath all of that dramatic speculation isn’t entirely bogus either. Take the apes’ transition from ordinary chimpiness to hyper-intelligence, as laid out in 2011’s [_Rise of the Planet of the Apes_](http://entertainment.time.com/2011/08/04/rise-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-review/)_._ It comes about through an experimental virus that alters the animals genetically. In fact, deactivated viruses are how doctors attempt to inject new, healthy genes into victims of genetic disorders. The technology is still [highly experimental](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,996060,00.html), but there’s no reason to think it won’t be perfected someday. Moreover, while it’s clear that there’s no single gene governing intelligence—and that intelligence itself comes in different types—it’s equally clear that smarts, however you define them, have a [genetic component](http://healthland.time.com/2012/04/16/bigger-brain-and-higher-iq-linked-with-specific-genetic-variants/). It’s not much of a stretch to imagine that we’ll identify the genes in question, and find ways to insert them into the brains of both people and, should we be so insane as to do so, apes as well. Ok, so apes with enhanced intelligence, check. As for how these simian Einsteins would actually behave, the film is at least plausible on that score as well—as long as you don’t look too closely. That’s how [Frans de Waal](http://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1595326%5F1595329%5F1616472,00.html) sees it. He’s an expert on primate behavior based at Emory University, and he says there are key elements in the movie that ring true. For one thing, he says, chimps may never be fully as intelligent as humans, gene therapy notwithstanding (“our brains are physically three times bigger—this is not a small difference”). But de Waal adds, “chimps do have many mental capacities—thinking about the future, planning ahead,” which are necessary for the sort of strategic thinking they do in the movie. “So that’s not unrealistic.” It’s also not at all unrealistic that the primates in _Dawn_ would band together to fight their human antagonists. “Chimps do wage war,” de Waal says. “They’re quite territorial.” As an admirer of chimps and other primates, he was worried that his cross-species friends might be stereotyped. “I was afraid they’d portray the apes as aggressive and the humans as angelic—but it’s the opposite. The apes want peace in the beginning.” Also realistic is the stormy relationship between noble Caesar, the apes’ leader, and Koba, the cranky ape who was scarred both physically and psychologically by cruel humans. “They fight,” says de Waal, “but they reconcile afterward, which is something chimps really do. I’ve studied this for many years.” In real life, he explains, chimps patch up their differences by kissing on the mouth, whereas in the film they make up with a more conventionally manly hand-clasp. But still, bonus points for truthiness. De Waal notes a few other, less defensible inaccuracies. Real apes don’t produce tears when they’re sad, but _Dawn_ apes do; real apes don’t walk on two legs nearly as much as the _Dawn_ apes. They don’t use spoken language, either, and while de Waal believes they could if they really wanted or needed to, it’s not clear why they would prefer speaking to signing—something apes are already physiologically equipped for. To the extent that that and other forms of ape body language are shown, they’re misrepresented. “The apes’ nonverbal communication has been humanized,” he says. De Waal’s other complaint, albeit a minor one: “This is very much a macho movie,” he says. “It has only a few female characters. It’s mostly just males running around and shooting each other.” A true portrayal of ape society—even one based on a science-fictional premise—would include typical behaviors like feeding, grooming and sex. “It disturbed me a little,” he says. “It was just like a Schwarzenegger movie.” With lots more body hair, of course. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2977183/planet-of-the-apes-science/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2977183/planet-of-the-apes-science/"},"headline":"Planet of the Apes: That Couldn't Happen....Right?","datePublished":"2014-07-11T21:40:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:06:13.358Z","description":"There's science behind the new sci-fi movie—some of it turns out to be pretty sound","url":"https://time.com/2977183/planet-of-the-apes-science/","keywords":["review","Science topic","Movie","body language"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95f80eccc363b794/69869b7ccd804d32c1ccbe68/dawn-of-the-planet-of-the-apes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michael Lemonick","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/michael-d-lemonick/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95f80eccc363b794/69869b7ccd804d32c1ccbe68/dawn-of-the-planet-of-the-apes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, Toby Kebbell, Andy Serkis, 2014. ph: David James/TM and ©Copyright","caption":"DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, Toby Kebbell, Andy Serkis, 2014. ph: David James/TM and ©Copyright","creditText":"Twentieth Century Fox/Courtesy of Everett Collection","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/review/","name":"review"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2977183/planet-of-the-apes-science/","name":"Planet of the Apes: That Couldn't Happen....Right?"}}]}] ```