Will There Be More Planet Of The Apes Movies?
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will debut in theaters on May 24, 2024.
Tim Burton attempted to bring the Planet of the Apes franchise back in 2001 with the help of Marky Mark Wahlberg. After that abysmal film, rebooting the series again seemed foolhardy, yet Rise of the Planet of the Apes managed to exceed everyone’s expectations. With the two sequels to the reboot finding equal critical success, we will soon receive another film in the franchise.
Disney officially acquired Fox in 2019, shortly after the release of War for the Planet of the Apes. However, Disney wasted no time getting the IP train moving forward, and the House of Mouse began development on another film in the franchise. That film is set to release on May 24, 2024.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the title of the forthcoming film, which saw most of its script written during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, it was announced that Owen Teague would play the lead role in the film as Cornelius, the chimpanzee son of Andy Serkis’ Caesar. Other cast members announced for the sequel include Freya Allen, Peter Macon, Eka Darville, Kevin Durand, Travis Jeffery, Neil Sandilands, Sara Wiseman, Lydia Peckham, Ras-Samuel Weld A’abzg, William H. Macy, and Dichen Lachman.
Wes Ball, best known for directing the Maze Runner trilogy of films, is on board to direct Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes with Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Patrick Aison as screenwriters. Jaffa and Silver served as screenwriters on the first two films and served as producers on the third film of the reboot franchise. They will also return as producers on the new film, along with Joe Hartwick Jr. and Jason Reed.
Surprisingly enough, COVID wasn’t enough to delay Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes a significant amount, as it has already finished filming as of February 2023. Of course, these films likely have a much longer post-production process than your average film, considering the amount of VFX used to bring all of the non-human characters to life. While we won’t be seeing Andy Serkis’ Ceasar in this film, the previous films undoubtedly made significant strides forward to creating fully believable CG characters using motion performance technology.
Weta FX, the Peter Jackson-founded visual effects company, is returning for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which is certainly good news. The Oscar-winning studio is known not only for its significant contributions to the previous trilogy in the franchise but also for its incredible work on films like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Avatar, and Avatar: The Way of Water. At the very least, the Disney-rebooted trilogy will be a visual feast and likely another Oscar-winning VFX effort.
While Disney is continuing the story from the previous films, it does seem like Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is acting as a soft reboot of sorts. According to reports, the film is set to take place years in the future after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes. This will presumably allow Disney to kick off a new story for the franchise that can continue if it manages to make the big bucks at the box office.
The reported synopsis for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes says that there are many ape clans that have arisen in the wake of the events of the previous film. Humans have also regressed to a feral state. It appears the story will be two-pronged as we see a new ape leader attempting to enslave other clans and find a lost human technology while another ape travels with a human girl to find their freedom.
A 2022 report by MovieWeb also indicated that Disney is apparently very happy with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and there’s a possibility that a new trilogy could emerge from this film. Of course, that will be dependent on those aforementioned box office bucks to make that a reality. Still, the recent reboot trilogy was a breath of fresh air, so there’s certainly hope that Disney can lead the franchise in the same successful direction.
If you’re interested in checking out the reboot trilogy for yourself, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is available to stream on Hulu now. The original was a surprising box office and critical success, so it’s well worth your time. Now is as good of a time to catch up as any, considering we’ll be seeing a new film from the franchise in less than a year.
