Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes Gets Lowest Audience Score Since Tim Burton Remake
When it comes to beloved franchises, there’s one king that reigns over the rest – or at least has since the first movie in the Planet of the Apes series stomped onto screens in 1968. Since then, audiences have seen reboots, remakes, and fresh chapters in the sci-fi universe, but the latest movie, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, left many fans feeling a bit let down.
Audiences have spoken, and CinemaScore delivered the answer, slapping the movie with a resounding “B” rating – the lowest the franchise has seen since Tim Burton’s 2001 reboot.
Any Comparsion To The Burton Film Is Not A Good One
To be completely fair, a B-rating isn’t the biggest hit a movie can take, but in the case of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, it does put it below the others before it, which include War for the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes, each of which received an A-. As mentioned, the only other film Ball’s production beat out was Burton’s 2001 reboot featuring Mark Wahlberg as astronaut Leo Davidson and Helena Bonham Carter in some very interesting ape makeup.
Kingdom Took Major Risks
Because CinemaScore only provides viewers with a letter rating for films and no comments or critiques, we can’t be fully sure what exactly turned audiences off from Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Ball took some creative risks with the new movie, as rather than starting the franchise from scratch or sticking to the same characters, he introduced an entirely new set of names and faces.
A Dark Future For Humanity
Picking up decades after the death of Caesar, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes stars Owen Teague as a young ape named Noa who goes on a quest for vengeance, justice, and knowledge after his entire clan is wiped out. The world audiences are introduced to in Ball’s production is even more brutal for humans than in the past. Ruling with an iron fist, a bili ape known as Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand) hopes to take full dictatorial control of the rest of the ape population and wipe out humans once and for all.
Director Has A Major Project Coming Up Next
Along with Teague and Durand, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes also features a leading performance from The Witcher’s Frey Allan, William H. Macy, and Peter Macon. The movie is the latest to come from Ball and is the director’s first foray out of The Maze Runner franchise, of which he directed all three films. Beyond his walk into ape territory, Ball is gearing up to bring audiences a live-action adaptation of The Legend of Zelda.
Doing Well In Theaters But Below Expectations
With last year’s double writers’ and actors’ strikes affecting the timeliness and output of films from major studios, many were worried about how the industry would survive during the first six months of 2024. Now, just one week into its theatrical run, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes has almost regained its production budget of $160 million. With competition including The Fall Guy and Challengers, it’s impressive to see Ball’s latest film holding its own despite its CinemaScore B rating.
Source: CinemaScore
