NEW YORK — Fox News caught up with Mark Wahlberg, star of Planet of the Apes, at the film's premiere in New York.

Wahlberg, known for his roles in Boogie Nights and Three Kings, said he didn't even know anything about his role when he agreed to make the film for director Tim Burton. 

Wahlberg: [Burton] is one of the few guys I would do anything for. [He's] that interesting and that talented, and so I said, 'I'll do whatever you want me to do.'

Fox News: But after your first meeting with him you still didn't know what role you were going to play?

W: I left there thinking, well god, I don't want to be an ape. And then he called me and said he wanted me for the astronaut role and then I was like, wait, ya know, Charlton Heston wore a loincloth the entire time and was barefoot. (laughs)

Fox News: You have a thing about bare feet?

W: Well, we were running around and people are stepping on your feet. I've got sensitive feet, man.(laughs)

Fox News: So, the guy who used to model Calvin Klein underwear had a problem with wearing something too revealing? 

W: I would have come out in a loincloth and (Charlton Heston) would have been standing there with like George Clooney and a bunch of my friends taking pictures. 

Fox News: And you know the poster would have been you in a Calvin Klein pose in the loincloth.

W: Yeah, yeah.

Fox News: The loincloth by Calvin Klein.

W: They'd be selling them right now. We're doing a launch after the premiere ... the launch of the new loincloth underwear.

He may have worked with monkeys for months, but Tim Burton's not comfortable with the hairy tree-dwellers. "I'm still scared of 'em," the director told us at Monday night's premiere of "Planet of the Apes." 

Mark Wahlberg, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth, Estella Warren, Shaquille O'Neill, James Gandolfini, Gabriel Byrne, Aaliyah and Don Cheadle were among the many celebrities who turned out for the event at the Ziegfeld theater. Record exec Guy Oseary, feeling a little primal, maybe, was spotted grabbing girlfriend Eva Herzigova's bottom on the red carpet. 

Inside, there was a serious game of celebrity musical chairs. "Sopranos" star Drea de Matteo was asked to vacate her seat for actor Ben Chaplin. According to a source, de Matteo went ape and seethed, 
"You've got to get security to move me." They did. De Matteo stormed out of the theater. 

Model Shakara also was asked to move, but she landed next to a smiling Shaq. Shakara's husband, model Ralph Gibson, needn't worry. The Lakers' center (whose entourage took up an entire row) was overheard discussing getting married next year (he has a 3-year-old daughter, Taahirah, with Arnetta Yardbourgh). 

The after-party at Roseland, which was done up to look like a jungle, featured fur-covered couches, cavewomen dancing in cages and giant apes that weren't big on conversation.

Some in the crowd didn't go bananas for the sci-fi flick, but did laugh heartily when Wahlberg delivered the line: "I'm going to show you something that you've never seen before." No it wasn't that thing he revealed in "Boogie Nights." Wahlberg, who plays an astronaut, was talking about his spaceship. And, judging by their smoochiness at the party, model Rhea Durham is the lady he's giving a ride to.

Just like the Air Force captain he plays in Tim Burton's ``Planet of the Apes,'' Dorchester's Mark Wahlberg is taking a solo flight this summer. 

Last summer, Wahlberg rode shotgun on ``The Perfect Storm'' starring George Clooney. This year, Wahlberg is carrying one of the summer's biggest and most eagerly anticipated movies all by himself. 

``I never felt that going in, though they're trying to make that out now,'' Wahlberg said of the notion that ``Planet of the Apes,'' which opens Friday, is his chance to reign for the next decade as one of Hollywood's most bankable global stars. 

It's a heady thought. Yet, at 30, Wahlberg - who will be in Boston tomorrow for the premiere of ``Planet of the Apes'' to benefit his Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation - doesn't seem to be in any danger of losing his head. 

``I'm being offered lots of senseless action stuff with shooters and tons of money attached,'' he said. ``But I've got tons of money and I plan to stay on the same path I've always been on, which is to find a fantastic filmmaker and work with them.'' 

In ``Planet of the Apes,'' Wahlberg worked with Burton, the quirky visionary director behind ``Batman,'' ``Sleepy Hollow'' and ``Edward Scissorhands.'' Wahlberg's next three projects, he noted with pride, are a departure from the four-month filming schedule of the $100 million-plus ``Planet of the Apes.''' 

``They're smaller, more independent films; eight weeks is all,'' Wahlberg said. And the movies will be by acclaimed directors he already knows: David O. Russell (``Three Kings''), Paul Thomas Anderson (``Boogie Nights'') and James Gray (``The Yards''). 

``Planet of the Apes'' arrives on a wave of anticipation, not only for its artistic possibilities but its box-office potential. Wahlberg was Burton's first choice to play the astronaut who is stranded on a strange planet and held captive by the ruling apes - even though he's totally different from the 1968 original film's leading man, the physically towering Charlton Heston. 

``Charlton Heston (who has a small role as a wise old simian in this version) is a legend but I wasn't concerned,'' Wahlberg said. ``I was doing it with Tim, and Tim had a different approach to the film as well the character.'' 

That approach was ``the opposite of Heston,'' Wahlberg said. ``Heston was cranked up as high as you can go, and everything with me is internal.'' 

When Wahlberg's character (Leo Davidson) lands, he discovers primitive humans (Estella Warren, the thick-lipped, swimming champion-turned-model-turned actress, and Kris Kristofferson) running from the apes. He soon meets the fearsome Gen. Thade (Tim Roth of ``Reservoir Dogs''), who despises humans for their smell as much as for their stupidity; his burly No. 2, Attar (Michael Clarke Duncan of ``The Green Mile''); and a senator's simian daughter, Ari (``The Wings of the Dove'' Oscar nominee Helena Bonham Carter), the lone ape advocate of fair and compassionate treatment for humans. 

With the Internet a force to be reckoned with, ``Planet of the Apes'' has had its share of ridiculous rumors. But while there is no three-headed, half-human/half-simian child in the movie, there also is no ape-human sexual activity. 

Should there have been such a scene with him and Bonham Carter in this PG-13 adventure? ``I would have liked to see it, but it was Tim's call,'' Wahlberg said. 

``That door has been left open,'' said Wahlberg, who admitted he would sign up for a sequel if Burton were to direct. 

Wahlberg also is ready to purchase his first real home. He is planning to help his mother sell her house in Braintree, and move her to Los Angeles with him. 
But Boston will always be his home, and he'll get together with members of the Funky Bunch (his Marky Mark backup band) when he returns this week. 

``Anthony Thomas, the other founding member, is in `Planet' as a gorilla in the red army,'' Wahlberg said of his former Marky Mark cohort. ``Two of the other guys are shopping a record. (Another), Scott Ross, manages different groups, including LFO which is an 'N Sync type and pretty successful. They're all coming to the premiere.'' 

The story of how Wahlberg has turned his life around from a street punk who spent time in jail to movie star is the cover story of the current Vanity Fair. 

``I'm certainly fine with it. It happened and it was a learning experience I went through,'' Wahlberg said. ``I don't talk about it.'' 

But, he does think about his mistakes. It's one of the reasons why he wanted ``to go back to my old neighborhood Thursday and do the benefit for my foundation for those kids.''

Mark Wahlberg refused to wear a loincloth in Tim Burton's reworking of the sci-fi classic Planet of the Apes, even though Charlton Heston ran around in his skivvies throughout the original. For a guy who dropped trou onstage as Marky Mark, who posed as a Calvin Klein underwear model, and who proudly presented his package in Boogie Nights, it's ironic that he's finally reaching stardom by keeping his clothes on. 
 
That nearly wasn't the case, however — at one point, the script called for a simian sex scene between Wahlberg's Air Force pilot, Leo Davidson, and Helena Bonham Carter's love-struck chimp, Ari. Burton nixed the idea, even though both Wahlberg and Carter were game. "We did flirt," says Carter, "but there wasn't much else to do." Instead, the film relies on more conventional selling points, like Rick Baker's incredible makeup and Estella Warren's sheer bodaciousness. 

Wahlberg recently met with Mr. Showbiz and considered his ascension to the A list. Looking sleek in a long-sleeved black Armani shirt and slacks, with Armani shades hanging from his shirt collar, the level-headed actor spoke about his rough beginnings, the groupies he left behind, and, uh, Estella Warren's sheer bodaciousness. 

Why didn't you wear a loincloth in Planet of the Apes? Ever since Boogie Nights, people have wanted to see what you're packing. 
There's a sequel coming. [Laughs] I wouldn't be comfortable in a loincloth. But I understand it. I wanted to see [Apes co-star] Estella Warren's tits the whole time. It's not nice; it's not fair to her. I know a lot of people want to see that, but it's not fair. 
Are you reluctant because of your underwear-modeling days? 
It's that. But I didn't feel that comfortable with it; I'd rather have my clothes on. And I'd rather be looking at Estella's tits. 
You could go on eBay and make a lot of money with your loincloth. 
I've got something far more valuable than a loincloth for eBay: [the prosthetic penis from Boogie Nights]. 
Do you keep that in the house you share with your mother in Braintree [Mass.]? 
No, I have that in my other apartment in the city. My mother would be walking around smacking people with it. At the end of a duster. 
Why did you ditch George Clooney's Ocean's Eleven for Planet of the Apes? 
The truth? I just didn't want to be around George anymore. You know, I carried the guy two or three times and he takes all the credit. 
You're finally in the lead role. Does this feel like a Mark Wahlberg movie? 
I never felt that going in. I signed on to do a Tim Burton movie and it's Tim's world and Tim's vision and I was there to service it. Nothing else. It's as simple as that. 
But now all your potential roles will be as the star. 
I'm committed to three other projects, which are smaller, more independent films. But I've been offered a lot of senseless action stuff with shooters, not directors, with tons of money attached. But I've got tons of money, so it's not going to influence me. I'm just going to stay on the same path I've always been on, which is to find a fantastic filmmaker who wants to work with me and figure out what he wants me to do. 
The original Apes is a classic. How did you feel about assuming Charlton Heston's mantle? 
I wasn't concerned. I was doing it with Tim, and Tim had a different approach to the film as well as the character, and his take was spot-on with mine. I didn't feel any pressure. You're going into Tim Burton's world and to me that's comforting. 
What is your take? 
Heston was cranked up as high as you can go. Everything with me has always been internal anyway. I just thought, "What better to do than less? Almost nothing." There were a couple of things I always kept in the back of my mind — this is not real, it's a nightmare, I'm going to wake up soon and it's going to be over. When I realize it's not, then we turn up the juice a little. 
Should there have been a human-simian sex scene? 
I would have liked to see it, but it was Tim's call. Again, that door has been left open too. 
Would you rather be a chimp, an orangutan, or a gorilla? 
Orangutan. They just seem so much cooler. Real orangutans are a lot nicer than chimps or gorillas. 
Didn't a couple of the chimps attack you on the set? 
The two chimps who played Pericles. I was hanging out with them for two weeks and we became close and then they met Helena [Bonham Carter] and she smells better than I do. I gave her a hug that day and they both just jumped on me and started pouncing. 
Your clothes also caught on fire at one point. What's up with that? 
Stunt guys. Instead of throwing fireballs at me as close as they can, they tried to hit me. Whoever hit me got $100. Not very professional. 
How big a fan were you of the original Planet of the Apes? 
I wasn't. I'd seen it when I was a kid. Talking gorillas on horses with guns, it was kind of funny. My dad and I were huge Charlton Heston fans, but that particular movie didn't work for us. I was more interested in watching Shane or James Cagney and all these cool gangster movies. Now, watching it for this role, I see what the fuss was all about. It was incredible for its time. … After the original, they just went downhill. By the time the fourth or fifth came along, they were shooting in Century City [Calif.] and there was never a shot with more than three people in it. It was horrible. 
What do you think of the anti-gun message in this movie?
I love Charlton Heston for saying those lines about "This is what is destroying man." 
Do you agree with that message? 
I agree with that, but I've also lived in a world where serious things happen. I don't want anybody else to have a gun, but I feel more comfortable at night knowing I have one. Where I'm from, you have to protect yourself. 
It's always mentioned how you spent time in jail. Are you comfortable talking about your past? 
I'm certainly fine with it. It happened and it was a learning experience that I went through. Other people have this fascination with it and they have written the same article over and over. I find it deathly boring and yet I continue to get the phone calls: "That's the most amazing story I've ever read." I never read Vanity Fair when I was a kid so I'm going back to my old neighborhood for the Boston premiere as a benefit for my foundation, the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation. If I want to get a message to them, I have to bring it to them. 
Do you often go back to your old neighborhood? 
My mother only lives 15 minutes away from the street corner I used to hang out on. Every once in a while a friend or two will be hanging on the corner, and you get in the car and ride around the old neighborhood and see who's around. Or I'll want to go to my favorite pizza shop. 
What's wrong with that? 
Nothing. But you start getting comfortable and it's "Let's go for one drink," and you go in the bar across the street and the next thing you know, someone says something smart. A couple of them are a bit jealous. 
And they want to start trouble? 
Of course. At the beginning of my music career, I bought four or five guys new cars and paid $100,000 for a lawsuit here and $50,000 for a broken nose there. And I wasn't out to cause trouble, but I certainly had to protect myself. 
Are you close to getting your GED? 
I've got the test ready to go and if I don't read that science book, I'm going to fail. 
How ironic that you just played an astronaut. 
I said to Tim, "Let me go to NASA." He said, "You'll go in the ship for a couple of minutes and I'll tell you to flip some switches and that's it." I'm going to [study] — and finally now I've got a window, I've been working nonstop. 
Which was tougher, Apes or your upcoming Rock Star? 
Both were very tough, but for very different reasons. Rock Star was certainly reality-based and there were things I could connect with on some level. This was acting, which is something I don't enjoy doing, but in this particular instance, I enjoyed doing it because I was doing it with Tim and I really trusted him. He liked that because a lot of actors pick things apart and I didn't. You have a four-word sentence and they want a half-hour discussion, and it's not that important, in the big picture. You know, you'd find Tim hiding from certain people and then coming to talk to me about everything. 
Wouldn't it be easier to play a rock star because of your experience rapping?
The style of music is so different than from what I was doing. To walk and be believable as a rocker. Take a real rocker from Judas Priest and say, "Be a rapper and be believable as a real urban guy," it's not going to happen. Take Sebastian Bach or Vince Neil, or any one of these guys and it's not going to happen. They're not going to be able to walk right. They're not going to be able to move right. 
But the groupies … 
[Smiles] Oh, yeah, the groupies, I've had lots of those. That's the only thing I miss about music. 
How far did a groupie ever go to get to you? 
Well, they didn't have to try too hard. A little wave, a wink, you know, they show up at the hotel. 
Don't you still have groupies now as a movie star? 
I have actors' groupies. They're movie star chicks, groupies who want to go out with a movie star, go to the premiere, be photographed with you holding their hand and shit. That's why I've never done it. 
How can you have a relationship with a woman like that? 
You don't. It's impossible. I have a better chance of finding a wife at the zoo than I do at the Whiskey Bar in L.A. or on a movie set. It's ridiculous. 
Did it feel good to be back in front of an audience for Rock Star? 
We did a concert at L.A. Sports Arena, a charity concert, because we needed arena shots. We opened for W.A.S.P., Megadeth, Great White, and all these bands. They didn't know Marky Mark, they didn't know who we were, and they didn't know we were making a movie. I performed three songs and the crowd was going nuts. We did it but then it got a little crazy … it's now 12 o'clock at night and none of their bands had come out yet. We've got 20,000 metalheads who are pissed off and starting to go nuts. 
Whatever happened to the Funky Bunch? 
They're around. Anthony Thomas, who was the other founding member with myself, is in Planet as a gorilla in the red army. Two of the other three guys are shopping a record. One of them, Scott Ross, manages different groups, including LFO, which is an 'N Sync-type [band] and pretty successful. 
What music do you listen to these days? 
Mostly reggae and a lot of hip-hop. I started listening to Zeppelin after making Rock Star. I tried to listen to all the hard-core stuff that was what the movie was about. But once I found Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix, I was like, "I can't go much further." 

NEW YORK, July 25, (Reuters) - The gorillas of ``Planet of the Apes'' could trounce the ``Jurassic Park III'' dinosaurs at box offices this weekend, but the movie's toy spin offs may not follow suit.

On Wednesday, Hasbro Inc. (NYSE:HAS - news), the United States' No. 2 toymaker with Tonka trucks, the Scrabble board game and G.I. Joe action dolls in its cupboard, unveiled only five 12-inch figures based on the characters of Leo, Attar, Daena, Ari and Limbo. 

But the toys are meant for a smaller ``collectibles'' market compared to the masses of children who flock to retail shelves for toys from films like computer animated ``Shrek.'' Moreover, the stock of summer films in recent years has diminished the value of promotional tie-ins, industry experts said. 

``It's an all-new line targeted at an older audience,'' said Deron Ellis, director of marketing for ``Planet of the Apes'' at Hasbro. ``This line is all about collectibility -- the figures are all collectors' items.'' 
Science Fiction thriller ``Planet of the Apes,'' which gets its story from a novel by Pierre Boulle and the 1968 classic film of the same name, tells of an astronaut (Mark Wahlberg) who lands on a planet inhabited by apes that hunt humans. 

Toys from the movie, which opens around the country on Friday and is one of this summer's most anticipated films, are aimed at older buyers who will likely see the PG-13 rated movie, as well as fans of the series of ``Planet of the Apes'' movies during the 1960s and 1970s that preceded this current version. 

``Action figures have become more the collector's business rather than the children's business,'' said Marty Brochstein, executive editor of The Licensing Letter, a trade publication for licensed merchandise. "And the collectors' business is smaller than the children's business. 

Hasbro also faces the problem that spending on the toys could take second place to more essential items in a family's back-to-school budget. Couple that with reduced consumer spending due to the weak economy, and it adds up to possibly fewer toys flying off retail shelves. 

Still, Twentieth Century Fox, the movie studio behind ``Apes,'' has high hopes that it will become the kind of blockbuster that rakes in big bucks at the box office and spurs sales of ancillary products. 

``The film has a huge awareness and a huge following of older fans, plus younger fans of (director) Tim Burton and Mark Wahlberg,'' said Jennifer Robinson, vice president of Fox Licensing and Merchandising. 

With that in mind Fox, a unit of News Corp. Ltd. (Australia:NCP.AX - news) (NYSE:FOX - news), has licensed out the ``Apes'' name for a number of consumer products including apparel, lunch boxes, cookie jars, trading cards and comic books. The studio has tie-ins with shoemaker Reebok International Ltd. (NYSE:RBK - news) and PC maker Intel Corp. (NasdaqNM:INTC - news), and is relying on the film's ``cross-generational'' appeal to spur demand for products. 
But if the movie fails to open to a big box office number this weekend, Hasbro, Fox and the other makers could be in for trouble, because the life cycle of consumer products based on movies is shrinking. 

``Retailers have been very skittish about stocking film merchandise because there are so many films and products out there,'' said Brochstein. ``In most cases, the active selling time is about 4-6 weeks, unless you have a very successful movie.'' DreamWorks' ``Shrek'', for instance, is the summer's top grossing film with box office receipts well over $230 million. 

Beyond that, kids still have the ``Harry Potter'' movie and computer animated ``Monsters, Inc.'' coming up in the next few months. 

Hasbro, too, will make toys for ``Monsters'' and is hoping those sales, which will target a wider audience, coupled with the niche-oriented strategy for ``Apes'' will help it recover from 2000, which it has said was its ``worst year'' ever. 

NEW YORK--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--July 25, 2001-- The impending release of Twentieth Century Fox's Planet of the Apes, premiering on Friday, is one of the most highly anticipated films of the summer. 

While Planet of the Apes is about to hit the big screen, Hasbro Inc.'s (NYSE:HAS - news) action figure line took center stage at FAO Schwarz today. Leading man Mark Wahlberg joined Hasbro and Twentieth Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising (Fox L&M) to launch Hasbro's action figure line. 

Wahlberg greeted fans and autographed Hasbro's new, precisely detailed action figures, now available nationwide. The line features figures based on the film's major heroes and villains, including characters played by Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan and supermodel Estella Warren. The line is sure to thrill kids and collectors alike. 

``As the leader in action figures, the Hasbro team knows that when it comes to film-based product, faithful depiction and attention to detail are the names of the game,'' said Deron Ellis, director of marketing for Hasbro's Planet of the Apes action figure line. ``We are honored that Mark Wahlberg could join us today, to launch the line and demonstrate how closely our Planet of the Apes figures resemble the real thing.'' 

``We're experiencing overwhelming excitement and enthusiasm for the release of Planet of the Apes and for Hasbro's extraordinary action figure line,'' said Peter Byrne, Senior Vice President of Fox Licensing and Merchandising. ``We are thrilled to have him with us to help introduce the line.'' 

``The excitement in the store today has been incredible,'' said Bud Johnson, CEO of FAO Schwarz. ``FAO Schwarz is known as a place where people come both for toys and entertainment, and having Mark Wahlberg here to help launch Planet of the Apes-based figures adds to our rich tradition. We commend Hasbro for yet another stellar job in creating figures that bring the magic of the film to life for kids and collectors. 

Hasbro's Planet of the Apes offerings include Fighting Figures -- collectible six-and-a-half inch figures depict the major heroes and villains from the film including Leo (Mark Wahlberg), Daena (Estella Warren), Attar (Michael Clarke Duncan), and Ari (Helena Bonham Carter). They are highly detailed and have articulated arms, legs and head so that they can be placed in exciting action poses. Each figure also comes with different accessories such as removable helmets and weapons. The line also includes Deluxe, Ultra (featuring electronic sounds from the film) and highly-collectible12-inch figures. Approximate retail prices start at $9.99. 

About Planet of the Apes 

Director Tim Burton's (Batman) Planet Of The Apes begins with the premise of Pierre Boulle's classic science fiction novel. A pilot crash-lands on a strange planet and finds himself in a brutal, primal place where apes are in charge and humans scavenge for subsistence, hunted and enslaved by the tyrannical primates. However, Burton's unique personal vision and style break new ground in story, design, makeup (by multi Academy Award winning artist Rick Baker) and visual effects. 

About Hasbro 

Hasbro (NYSE:HAS - news) is a worldwide leader in children's and family leisure time entertainment products and services, including the design, manufacture and marketing of games and toys ranging from traditional to high-tech. Both internationally and in the U.S., its PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, TIGER and WIZARDS OF THE COAST brands and products provide the highest quality and most recognizable play experiences in the world. 

About Twentieth Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising 

Twentieth Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising (Fox L&M), along with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, comprise the retail-oriented strategic alliance of Fox Consumer Products. A recognized industry leader, Twentieth Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising licenses and markets properties worldwide on behalf of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Twentieth Television and Fox Broadcasting Company, as well as third party lines. 

About FAO Schwarz

Founded in 1862, FAO Schwarz has long been recognized as the world's ultimate toy store. The company consistently delivers exclusive, unusual and trend-setting merchandise from around the globe. FAO Schwarz has designed its stores, catalogues and on-line shopping site in a uniquely interactive manner that involves customers with merchandise and creates a playful experience. The company currently operates 40 locations nationwide, including flagship stores in Chicago, Las Vegas, New York, Orlando, Boston and San Francisco. For more information about FAO Schwarz, visit the company's Website at www.fao.com.

Looking a tad tired after a hectic weekend of interviews, Mark Wahlberg, dressed in black but appearing jovial, says that he was unconcerned in starring in a film so identified with film history. “I would have been, had it been anyone else but Tim Burton; with Tim, I never really thought about it. I don’t think ANYONE had any concerns or felt under any kind of pressure. I never even thought about stepping into the Heston role.’

Tim Burton’s take on the classic story is set in 2020 and casts Wahlberg as a pilot who crash lands on a seemingly barren planet, but one inhabited by apes. Befriended by a sympathetic chimp (Helena Bonham-Carter), Wahlberg reluctantly assumes a Messianic role, and tries to free the planet’s human population from its military ape captors. Wahlberg admits not having been a huge fan of the original 1968 film. “I saw it when I was 10 with my dad and thought: This is kinda funny, talking apes on horses, but put on Shane again or a good Cagney movie. But in preparation for this role, I went back, saw it again and noticed things that I obviously didn’t see when I was 10, and in the process saw why people loved it; still it wasn’t anything that really turned me on.”

Comparing the original, more socially conscious version to this new film, Wahlberg agrees with producer Richard Zanuck that Burton’s film is more entertaining and escapist than the original, “but on the other hand, if you watch the movie very closely, it’s still pretty layered and addresses certain social and political issues, yet this one is certainly much more entertaining and more fun, as it SHOULD be.” Wahlberg adds that “the world is very different today than it was in 1968. But to REALLY answer your question, I agree with ANYTHING and EVERYTHING Richard Zanuck says, because that guy is the coolest guy that I’ve EVER met in the business. Now, after working with him, I feel I’m part of the movie business,” the actor adds laughingly. 

Including pal George Clooney at whom he can’t resist taking a jibe. “Clooney is just a pretty boy, man, and that’s IT, ok? I carried him on my back long enough. I’m on my own. But seriously, I like George a lot and we were supposed to do Ocean’s 11 together but hey, a choice had to be made between Tim Burton and third wheel to Clooney again ---- let me step out on my own, know what I’m sayin’?” Obviously this was something he just couldn’t pass up, “because everything I had done up to this point was reality-based and something I could connect with on some personal level. With this, it was time to get out there and try something different and trust a guy [Tim Burton] who has done something interesting every, single time out.”

Without giving too much away, much has been made of the movie’s surprise ending. Wahlberg would not be drawn on discussing the ending except to concede that, according to producer Zanuck, “the door’s left wide open” for a sequel. “You know that must be right, because I agree with EVERYTHING that Zanuck says,” he adds cheekily. “But I suggest that you see the film again, and I think you’ll get the ending. So get out there, see it twice. I just realised that the whole point of doing interviews was to promote this movie, so see it THREE times,” he adds raucously.”

For a man with an obviously cheeky sense of humour, it’s surprising that Wahlberg, already a veteran of some 13 films, has played often intense, ultra-serious characters. By now, it’s time for a change. And it’s coming later this year in the form of Rock Star, a comedy co-starring Jennifer Anniston. Wahlberg is philosophical about its much delayed release date. “This is a movie that the studio really loves, and on which it has spent a lot of money and time, trying to figure out how to market the film properly; it’s not like selling a poster with someone just wearing sunglasses, you know? You’ve got to actually get creative. I mean I said we could still probably put Mel Gibson on the poster with sunglasses; I’m sure he wouldn’t mind, as he’s a buddy of mine.” But seriously folks, “the fact that they like it as much as they do is a good thing for me, because that movie means a lot to me.” Asked whether he preferred being kissed by a chimp or Jennifer Anniston, Wahlberg actually pauses. “Well, Helena Bonham-Carter was pretty good underneath that make up, but Jennifer is EXTREMELY sexy in this movie, not to mention talented.”

While Wahlberg has more recently starred in big studio films, the actor is looking forward to “kind of going back to where I feel most comfortable. This year alone I’ll get to work again with Paul Thomas Anderson, James Gray and David O. Russell.” 

But where Wahlberg is NOT returning is to his former career if rapper. “I’m 30 years old, I love listening to music, I have a studio in my house and mess around once in a while, but to be in the music business just doesn’t make sense to me. It seems like a lifetime ago.”

Wahlberg is happy doing this ‘acting gig’ despite having to deal wiry his new found fame and celebrity status, but he has least he has learned to deal with it with a sense of humour. “I was in New York just for a week and I was in the paper every day, apparently dating girls I’ve never met. If I’m gonna get into trouble, it might as WELL be me causing it, you know what I mean?” 

PLANET OF THE APES OPENS NATIONALLY THIS FRIDAY. 

Apish Behavior Off Screen, Too

It was a zoo, the "Planet of the Apes" screening Monday night.

The special showing of the remake of the 1968 sci-fi film drew cast members MARK WAHLBERG and HELENA BONHAM CARTER; the film's director, TIM BURTON; and celebrities including SEAN COMBS, SHAQUILLE O'NEAL and — a last-minute surprise — CHARLTON HESTON. But the sound- bite crowd, the photographers and camera operators who cover such events, had a tense moment or two while jockeying for interview positions outside the Ziegfeld Theater. One television cameraman grabbed a "reserved" sign from the barricade that had been set aside for JEANNIE WILLIAMS of USA Today. "I've never seen anybody who was so rude," she said, though she added that he apologized later.

Placement turned out to be a problem inside the theater, too, where the soap-opera actor MARK CONSUELOS was playing cub reporter for his wife, KELLY RIPA, above, of "Live With Regis and Kelly." She stayed home with their new baby, but sent him to gather information so she could sound knowledgeable when she interviewed the cast on television.

But Mr. Consuelos was told to give up his seat to Mr. Burton. Mr. Consuelos pulled out his cell phone, called home and gave the phone to the person who ordered him out. Ms. Ripa said that the woman promised to invite her to many future events. Her reply: "We won't be coming."

The singer SAMANTHA COLE said that she, too, was ejected. "Suddenly they said I had to move to another seat," she said. "But the movie was ready to start, and there were no other seats, so I didn't see the movie."

So is Mr. Burton thinking about a sequel? "I'd rather jump out of a window right now," he said at a party after the screening.

New York was a jungle Monday night, with Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes premiere and a screening of Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam War epic, Apocalypse Now Redux. 

The Apes event wound up with the Roseland club transformed for a party with trees and vines, while at Lincoln Center, you could almost smell the napalm in the air as Robert Duvall got a major ovation for his famous scene, newly lengthened. 

Charlton Heston, of two previous Apes movies, also got applause for his cameo in this one. But a younger star was the draw for women. Amanda Peet had never seen any Apes movie but giggled as she admitted the big attraction was "Mark Wahlberg — I don't mean to be base, but ..." She was echoed by singer Aaliyah, who saw one of the original movies for the first time recently. "I'm excited to see it modernized." She likes "monkeys talking, monkeys that are humanlike. And I think the big appeal for this is Mark Wahlberg!" 

Wahlberg said the appeal for him was Burton, "a brilliant man as well as director." Told of those eager women, he said, "Great! Point them out!" He was looking forward to Thursday's Apes screening in Boston to benefit his new youth foundation. "My entire family is going. I hope there's no rumble, no brawls!" 

Kris Kristofferson has a shorter role as the dad of Estella Warren, who makes big eyes at Wahlberg through most of the movie and gets in a kiss. Kristofferson said, "Our kids know more about the original series than I did." But he jumped at working with Burton after seeing Sleepy Hollow. Warren raved about Wahlberg and his "complete lack of ego." She wore Jimmy Choo shoes to the premiere, nothing like her Apes footgear, but for that she had to "jump through a lot of windows, ride horses, swim and run a lot." 

A postscript: Twentieth Century Fox was sending profuse apologies to Kelly Ripa and hubby Mark Consuelos after a ticket mix-up had him ejected from a premiere seat. He and the seat saved for him never got together. 

'THE Planet of the Apes" opening was gorilla warfare. Not enough seats for the invitees. It made monkeys out of them. 

Walkie-talkies crackled: "Does Charlton Heston have a seat?" Final cast member to arrive, Heston sat down for the Ziegfeld's 8 o'clock screening at 8:40. Obviously, he'd been on Sixth Avenue, parting the traffic. 

Kris Kristofferson, is he enamored of apes? "No. I just loved Tim Burton, our director." 
Shaquille O'Neal, not in the film, he ever seen real apes? "Yeah, I watched albinos in Brazil once. But I didn't get real close. They were too big." Too big for Shaq? 

Mark Wahlberg's take on making this movie? "Hey, I had enough of these apes. Seven months they were kicking my ass." 

Grace Jones, who just came to see it and to be seen: "Darling, I love apes. I love men who are animals." 

Spike Lee stiffed photogs. Brian McKnight wore what resembled an undershirt. Molly Ringwald said she loves the "Apes" genre. Twentieth Century Fox film honcho Tom Rothman said: "In this movie, a bad hair day means your face." And Harry Evans to the missus, Tina Brown: "This opening's as exciting as the movie." 

RAVISHING Revlon model Rhea Durham may want to watch her back with new beau Mark Wahlberg. Saturday night, the "Planet of the Apes" hunk was at Suite 16 when a woman tried to approach. Stopped by his bodyguard, she screamed, "How dare you! I slept with you and now you won't talk to me? Who do you think you are? You weren't any good anyway!" The woman threw a drink before she was thrown out. But Durham escaped harm Monday at the overbooked "Apes" screening at the Ziegfeld and hooked up with Wahlberg at the after-party at Roseland.