Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is an upcoming American science fiction action film directed by Wes Ball and written by Josh Friedman. The sequel to War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), it is the fourth installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot franchise and the tenth film overall. The film stars Owen Teague in the lead role alongside Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, and William H. Macy.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes | |
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Directed by | Wes Ball |
Written by | Josh Friedman |
Based on |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Gyula Pados |
Edited by | Dan Zimmerman |
Music by | John Paesano |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | 20th Century Studios |
Release date |
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
Development on a new Planet of the Apes film began in April 2019, following Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox, with Ball attached as writer and director that December. Much of the script was written during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with casting commencing in June 2022, following the script's completion. Teague was cast in the lead role that August, with the film's title and additional casting revealed in the following months. Principal photography began in October 2022 in Sydney and wrapped in February 2023.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is scheduled to be released by 20th Century Studios in the United States on May 10, 2024.
Nearly 300 years after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes (2017),[1] ape civilizations have emerged from the oasis to which Caesar led his fellow apes, while humans have regressed into a feral, primitive state. When the ape king Proximus Caesar, armed with weapons forged from lost human technologies, perverts Caesar's teachings to enslave other clans, the chimpanzee hunter Noa embarks on a harrowing journey alongside a human girl named Mae to determine the future for apes and humans alike.[2][3]
Additionally, Eka Darville,[14] Ras-Samuel Weld A'abzgi,[11] Sara Wiseman,[11] and Dichen Lachman have been cast in undisclosed roles.[2]
In October 2016, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) director Matt Reeves said that he had ideas for a fourth film in the Planet of the Apes reboot series.[15] In mid-2017, as War was released, Reeves and co-writer Mark Bomback expressed further interest in sequels. Reeves said that Steve Zahn's character, Bad Ape, established a primate world "much larger" than just Caesar's group of apes, adding that there are apes "who grew up without the benefit of Caesar's leadership" and suggesting that conflict would arise if Caesar's apes should encounter such outsiders.[16] Bomback felt that "there was probably only one more big chapter left to tell", explaining how Caesar "came to be this Moses figure in the Apes world". He suggested that other filmmakers might work on the sequel and that it could take place hundreds of years after War. Despite this, he clarified that there had not been conversations on a potential sequel, expressing his desire to "take a breather and let things rest a bit."[17]
In April 2019, following its acquisition of 20th Century Fox, the Walt Disney Company announced that further Planet of the Apes films were in development.[18] In August, it was confirmed that any future installments would be set in the same universe first established in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011).[19] In December, it was announced that Wes Ball would write and direct the film,[20] after having previously worked with Reeves on a film adaptation of Mouse Guard. After that film was canceled by Disney following the merger, the studio approached Ball on developing a new Planet of the Apes film.[21]
In February 2020, Ball confirmed that the film would not be a reboot, instead chronicling "Caesar's legacy".[22] Joe Hartwick Jr. and David Starke were also confirmed to serve as producers.[23] In April, it was announced that Peter Chernin, who produced the previous installments through Chernin Entertainment, would serve as executive producer. The film will be one of the company's last films before it leaves 20th Century Studios for Netflix.[24] The next month, it was revealed that Josh Friedman would co-write the script with Ball, and that Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver would return to produce the film after doing so for the previous installments. Ball and Friedman would discuss the script through Zoom video calls, a routine which continued as the COVID-19 pandemic began. Instead of a direct sequel to War, Ball stated that the film would feel more like a follow-up to the previous films, and commented that the film could begin virtual production soon in spite of the pandemic due to the fact that much of the film contained computer-generated imagery (CGI).[25]
In March 2022, 20th Century Studios president Steve Asbell stated that he was expecting a screenplay draft shortly, aiming for production to begin by the end of the year.[26] By June, Oddball Entertainment and Shinbone Productions were also set to produce the film,[27][28] while the search for the main star was underway following the script's completion the previous month.[29] The film's title was revealed to be Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes in September 2022, with the film revealed to take place many years after the events of War. Jaffa, Silver, and Patrick Aison joined the writing team, with Ball no longer credited as screenwriter. Jason Reed and Jenno Topping were also announced as producer and executive producer, respectively, while Starke was no longer expected to serve as producer.[8]
Ball stated the film was set during the "Dark Ages", where the apes rediscover lost items from the past in "this grand adventure"; Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes takes place 300 years following Caesar's death. He felt the protagonist Noa was neither a child nor adult, but a figure placed in "extraordinary" circumstances and living in a nomadic ape tribe. Teague also stated that Noa doesn't have a self-perception of identity but was inspired by Caesar's legacy and message of "apes together strong". He compared the antagonist, Proximus, to that of inventor Thomas Edison as he had rediscovered electricity, which was knowledge lost during the Dark Ages. Durand felt that the name Proximus Caesar was a self-proclaimed title, as his goal was to ensure the continued prosperity of apes despite subverting Caesar's original teachings.[1][12] He had the idea to change the timeframe after taking inspiration from the film Apocalypto (2006), as it had provided him an opportunity for a "whole new trajectory". Hartwick Jr. stated that the film was focusing on Noa exploring the world for the first time.[30]
In August 2022, Owen Teague joined the cast of the film in the lead motion-capture role.[4] The next month, Freya Allan and Peter Macon joined the cast with the announcement of the film's title and release year,[8] as did Eka Darville and Kevin Durand in October.[6][14] Travis Jeffery, Neil Sandilands, Sara Wiseman, Lydia Peckham and Ras-Samuel Weld A'abzgi were added to the cast later that month,[11] while William H. Macy and Dichen Lachman were cast in January and February 2023, respectively.[2][10]
Principal photography began in October 2022 at Disney Studios Australia in Sydney, with funding partially provided by the Australian Government,[31] under the working title Forbidden Zone. Filming concluded on February 15, 2023.[32] Ball added filming primarily occurred on location alongside using motion-capture technology.[33]
Erik Winquist served as the visual effects supervisor, with vendors including Wētā FX, which had previously done work on the prior three Planet of the Apes reboot films.[34] Ball stated the film did not use The Volume technology, which had previously been employed for The Mandalorian, focusing on filming on-location and using full CG. He went on to compare the film's CG to that of James Cameron's Avatar franchise.[35] The team used techniques for their previous film Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) when working on an action sequence involving a human-hunt taking place on rivers. This was due to requiring the CG models of apes based on motion-capture performances appear realistic when interacting with water.[30]
A teaser trailer was released on November 2, 2023.[3][36] Bryan Britt of Inverse compared the film's premise to that of the original Planet of the Apes film from 1968.[37] A second trailer premiered during Super Bowl LVIII on February 11, 2024.[38][39]
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is scheduled to be released in the United States on May 10, 2024, in both conventional theaters and in IMAX, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, and ScreenX.[40] It was previously set for May 24 of that year,[41] but was rescheduled two weeks earlier to avoid competition with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and The Garfield Movie during Memorial Day weekend.[40]
In June 2022, it was reported that Disney and 20th Century planned for Kingdom to be the first of a new trilogy of Planet of the Apes films.[29] Ball confirmed this in December 2023, explaining that the film had been conceived as the beginning of a trilogy that "fit into the legacy of" the previous three films.[1]