Following War for the Planet of the Apes concluding the story of Andy Serkis’ Caesar in 2017, fans of the Planet of the Apes movies have been waiting to learn what the next chapter of this franchise holds in store. Well, after half a decade of few updates, the 10th theatrical Planet of the Apes movie is almost ready to begin production. Ahead of this big occasion, not only has the official title has been confirmed, we also have a first look at the upcoming movie, two new castings and a general release period.
First things first, the War for the Planet of the Apes follow-up will be called Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. While this title had been rumored/reported in recent months, 20th Century Studios has now confirmed it’s the real deal. While it will obviously be a while until we see official stills from Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which is being directed by The Maze Runner trilogy’s Wes Ball, the studio did release the concept art seen below, depicting an ape aboard horseback among the ruins of human civilization.
Next, we have the new castings. In August, it was announced that IT and The Stand actor Owen Teague will play Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ lead primate character. Today 20th Century Studios revealed that Teague will be joined by The Witcher’s Freya Allan and The Orville’s Peter Macon. No details were shared about their characters, so it’s hard to say if both of them will be playing apes like Teague, or if one of them will appear as a survivor of humanity’s remnants. Premise-wise, all that was shared about Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is that it will take place “many years” after War for the Planet of the Apes, and 20th Century Studios president Steve Asbell said in a statement that he “can’t wait to share Wes’ extraordinary vision for this new chapter with audiences in 2024.”
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ other attached talent includes War of the Worlds’ Josh Friedman, Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, and Prey’s Patrick Aison all having worked on the script, as well as Jaffa and Silver producing alongside Joe Hartwick Jr. and Jason Reed, and Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping executive producing. This is a lot of new information to process, and no doubt once cameras start rolling, there will be more details shared with the public, be it officially or leaked. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the third 20th Century Studios movie set for a 2024 release; it was announced earlier this week that Deadpool 3 comes out on September 6, 2024, and Avatar 3 is slated for December 20, 2024.
One thing I’m hoping is cleared up sooner rather than later about Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is exactly how long it takes place after War for the Planet of the Apes. Does “many years” mean a few decades after Caesar’s passing, and that we’ll be following along with his grandson or even great-grandson? Or are we jumping centuries into the future and hitting the time period that the original Planet of the Apes took place in? The ruins of those buildings in the concept art don’t really help with figuring out this mystery, but if you zoom in, you’ll notice that ape on the horse is wearing gear, which calls to mind the clothes-wearing apes from the 1968 movie that started it all.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more coverage about Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and check out our 2023 release schedule to learn what movies will be hitting the big screen a year prior to audiences returning to this franchise. You should also keep an eye out for the new Planet of the Apes comics Marvel will be publishing in 2023.
