Kingdom Of The Planet of the Apes Hits Hulu With Sci-Fi Blockbuster Bombast

It’s been more than five decades since Charlton Heston starred in the first Planet of the Apes movie and the film series is still going strong. Folks just must love their sci-fi action mixed with a little (or rather big) side of monkey because in the last 50+ years, there have been a whopping 10 Planet of the Apes films, with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes bringing a fresh story into the universe.

Helmed by Wes Ball (The Maze Runner film series), Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes serves as the fourth title to come in the rebooted franchise that started with 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It follows up the story of War for the Planet of the Apes but introduces a handful of new characters as the events of the former are now just distant memories of the past.

In Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, audiences are introduced to Noa (Owen Teague), a young chimpanzee who, after having his loved ones and village torn away from him, goes on a mission of vengeance and understanding. Along the way, he meets a human woman (Freya Allan) who will challenge what he thinks he knows about mankind, while they take on an authoritarian bonobo dictator known as Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand) together.

Filling out the movie’s ensemble cast is Orville alum Peter Macon and Academy Award-nominee William H. Macy (Fargo). As mentioned, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was directed by Wes Ball, the creative mind behind the uber-successful feature-length adaptations of James Dashner’s beloved novel series, The Maze Runner. His shuffle into the Apes universe was Ball’s fourth project following The Maze Runner trilogy, with the director next lining up to tackle Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda through a live-action feature.

So, how did Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes stack against the movies before it? Well, if you were to ask the critics over at Rotten Tomatoes, the title fell somewhere in the middle, holding the title of a Certified Fresh production with an 80 percent approval rating. This puts it at the fifth place down the totem pole, with the original movie as well as the three rebooted films ahead of it. Unsurprisingly, 1970’s Beneath the Planet of the Apes and 1973’s Battle for the Planet of the Apes take the lowest rated positions in that order.

In cinemas, audiences were thrilled to see Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes play on the big screen when it hit theaters earlier this year in May. The title earned over $397 million at the box office against its budget of $160 million. Not such a shabby gain especially considering the massive amounts of special effects needed to bring the apes to believable life. 

Just in case you missed it, now’s the time to head over to Hulu and see what all the hype is about, as Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is now available for streaming.