The 1968 film adaptation of Pierre Boulle‘s 1963 book La Planète des singes (also known as Planet of the Apes or Monkey Planet) was a critical and economic triumph, and it sparked a wave of follow-ups and spinoffs. After six films in the Planet of the Apes series from 1968 to 2001, a reboot series was announced that reimagined the tale of the chimpanzee Caesar. Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the first installment in the reboot series, was released in 2011. The film was followed by Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes.
With Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox in April 2019, the studio revealed that more Planet of the Apes movies would go into production. In September 2022, the title of the fourth installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot series was revealed to be Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Fans will be able to return to the simian-filled landscapes on the big screen once more in 2024, after nearly seven years since the last installment. Here’s what we know about the highly anticipated new film.
Editor’s Note: This piece was updated on January 17, 2024.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Many years after the reign of Caesar, a young ape goes on a journey that will lead him to question everything he’s been taught about the past and make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
When Does ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Come Out?
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apesis set to release on May 10, 2024, nearly seven years after the last installment, War for the Planet of the Apes. In its opening weekend, the sequel will be going up against the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black, the comedy My Ex-Friend’s Wedding, and the horror movie Horrorscope.
The film was previously scheduled for release on Memorial Day weekend, May 24, 2024, but was bumped up two weeks to avoid competition with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and The Garfield Movie.
Will ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Be in Theaters or on Streaming?
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will enjoy an exclusive theatrical release. However, when the film does go to streaming, it will likely land on Disney+ or Hulu, since the film is being distributed by the Disney-owned 20th Century Studios. Although, with the announcement that Disney is buying Comcast’s remaining stake in Hulu, there is a good chance that by the time Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is streaming bound, Disney+ and Hulu will have merged into a singular streaming app.
Is There a Trailer for ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’?
The official trailer for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apeswas released through YouTube on February 12th, 2024.
The first teaser trailer for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was released by 20th Century Studios on November 2, 2023. While the teaser does not reveal much of the new film’s plot, it does introduce us to a new, younger ape, who is presumably the film’s lead. The teaser trailer also reveals that the apes will no longer be speaking in broken English, and will now be fluent in the English language.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will serve as a soft reboot of the franchise, taking place years after the events of the “Caesar Trilogy.” While those films will still be considered canon to this new film, characters such as Caesar, Koba, Cornelia, Maurice, Rocket, and Nova will likely not be appearing in the new film.
In a recent sneak peek of the film from Empire, Ball revealed that while Caesar is still a spirit in the film, most of his living relatives won’t appear in this new installment, going on to say
“..if the last three movies were the Stone Age, here we get to see what happens when they enter the Bronze Age.”
In a subsequent sneak peek from Empire, Ball clarified that the film would be set 300 years after the death of Caeser and that the film’s lead Ape, Noa, doesn’t really know who Caesar was, going on to say:
“Part of his journey is a discovery of that legacy and its various interpretations. Noa has to make sense of what it all means.”
It was also revealed that the film’s villain will be an ape named Proximus Caesar, a cult-like leader who enslaves other tribes of apes, tarnishing the legacy and society that the original Caesar fought so long and hard to build.
The official synopsis for the film from 20th Century Studios reads:
Director Wes Ball breathes new life into the global, epic franchise set several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
Who Stars in ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’?
Since the latest installment in the Planet of the Apes franchise is said to take place “several generations” after the events of the previous film, it makes sense that there would be an entirely new cast.
Owen Teague (IT) will star as Noa, the film’s lead ape, using motion-capture technology. Teague will be stepping into the shoes left by Andy Serkis, who played Caesar, the lead ape in the previous trilogy of films, and earned plenty of acclaim from critics and audiences alike. While Serkis didn’t return for the new installment, Teague did seek help from the motion-capture veteran, explaining in an interview:
“The hardest part about it was just learning how to be in a suit all day and have a camera strapped to your head. But you get used to it after about a week, and I remember Andy being like, ‘You’ll get used to it and you’ll stop worrying about it after the first week.’ And he was absolutely right. The rest of motion capture is just what you would do otherwise, and the difference between a human and whatever you’re playing just becomes a costume, so you don’t even really think about it that much.”
Other motion-capture performers in the movie include Kevin Durand (The Strain) as Proximus Caesar and Peter Macon (The Orville) as Raka, an orangutan who becomes an ally to Noa on his journey.
The film’s human lead Mae, a young woman who joins the young ape on his journey, will be played by Freya Allan (The Witcher). Previous human cast members of the Caesar trilogy included James Franco, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Woody Harrelson, and Amiah Miller, although it looks like none of them will return for the new film, with Allan taking on the mantle instead.
The rest of the film’s ensemble will be made up of William H. Macy (Shameless), Eka Darville (Jessica Jones), Travis Jeffery (Unbroken), Neil Sandilands (Sweet Tooth), Sara Wiseman (A Place to Call Home), Lydia Peckham (Cowboy Bebop), Ras-Samuel Weld A’abzgi (The Clearing), and Dichen Lachman (Severance).
Details and names for the new characters outside Noa, have not yet been revealed, so for now we can only speculate on who these new characters are.
Who’s Making ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’?
Wes Ball, who directed The Maze Runner trilogy for 20th Century Studios, will be directing Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Ball will be taking over the directorial reigns from Matt Reeves, who directed the previous two films Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes.
The screenplay was written by Avatar: The Way of Water screenwriters Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver, as well as Prey screenwriter Patrick Aison. Jaffa and Silver also wrote the scripts for the previous three Planet of the Apes films.
Ball, Jaffa, and Silver also serve as producers on the film alongside Joe Hartwick Jr (The Maze Runner) and Jason Reed (Mulan). Executive producers on the film include Peter Chernin (Hidden Figures) and Jenno Topping (Ford v Ferrari).
Several of Ball’s previous collaborators from The Maze Runner trilogy returned to work alongside him on the new film including John Paesano who composed the score for the film, cinematographer Gyula Pados, and editor Dan Zimmerman.
When and Where Was ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Filmed?
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes began production in October 2022. Principal photography on Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was conducted at Disney Studios Australia in Sydney, under the working title Forbidden Zone. On February 15, 2023, Ball announced the end of filming with a BTS video from the sets of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. You can watch the video tweeted by Ball below:
Fans can catch an early glimpse of the representation of the movie’s title apes celebrating the conclusion of the film’s filming in front of a blue screen in the video. The huge crew is also seen applauding and cheering as Wes Ball announces that it’s a wrap!
