Summary
- Director Wes Ball explores the corrupted legacy of Caesar in the upcoming Planet of the Apes sequel.
- The movie will introduce characters who know nothing of Caesar’s history or sacrifice, as well as one who is perverting his teachings for their own power.
- The film has the potential to bridge the gap between the ape-led society of the original movies and the rise of ape dominance.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes director Wes Ball has explained how Caesar’s legacy informs his upcoming sequel. Set at a later point in the Planet of the Apes timeline, Ball’s movie will pick up the story of ape kind’s ascendancy as Earth’s predominate species long after Andy Serkis’ Ceasar led them to safety. Kingdom will pick up generations later and center on young chimpanzee Noa and feral human Mae as they journey to stop the maniacal Proximus Caesar from enslaving both clans of apes and humans.
Despite Caesar’s character being long dead in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Ball recently explained to Empire Magazine (via The Direct) how the memory of the apes’ first leader still informs the sequel’s narrative. Ball revealed his movie will explore what has happened to Caesar’s memory, and show how his legacy has been corrupted and abused through the years. He also explained that the latest Planet of the Apes installment will also feature apes who know nothing of Caesar’s history or his sacrifice in the initial trilogy closer, 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes. Check out his comments below:
When I first started on it, I said, “I feel like Apes needs a little bit of Star Wars.” It’s all still very grounded in reality, but it is essentially a quest narrative. Our main character — the young, impressionable Noa [‘It’’s Owen Teague] — meets characters along the way and becomes awakened as he winds up in a place that will test him, and he ultimately becomes his true self. What’s happened to [Caesar’s] memory? How might it have been corrupted or abused or adopted? What I thought was really interesting in ‘War’ was that Bad Ape [Steve Zahn] became self-aware, and he had no clue who Caesar was. So somewhere out in this world there are other apes who have no idea who Caesar is, but also still came to sentience. And that led to this whole idea of doing a big historical epic.
Why Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Could Be The Franchise’s Most Fascinating Story
Serving as the tenth Planet of the Apes movie, and the fourth entry in the franchise’s rebooted continuity that began with 2011’s Rise, many viewers may be tempted to suggest that there may not be much more ground left for the franchise to cover. However, given the recent revelation of Kingdom‘s chronological placement in the greater franchise, it has the potential to serve as one of the series’ most fascinating stories yet.
With the original Planet of the Apes movies depicting an already advanced ape-led society, and the previous trilogy helmed by Rupert Wyatt and Matt Reeves revealing how ape kind first came to rise to dominance, Ball’s movie straddles the gap between the two eras. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes also has the potential to provide audiences with an opportunity to see how ape society managed to evolve into its final form. In the original 1968 Planet of the Apes, ape culture is presented as a deeply theocratic society, separated by a strong caste system according to their various subspecies.
While Caesar may have envisioned a far different future for ape kind, if Ball has indeed elected to set his sights on working toward the society featured in the original movies, focusing on the gradual corruption and warping of Caesar’s original goals could make for some truly fascinating storytelling. Moreover, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes could also bring audiences one step closer to the original Charlton Heston classic that began it all.
Source: Empire Magazine (via The Direct)
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Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
- Release Date:
- 2024-05-24
- Director:
- Wes Ball
- Cast:
- Kevin Durand, Freya Allan, Peter Macon, Owen Teague, Eka Darville, Sara Wiseman, Neil Sandilands
- Rating:
- r
- Genres:
- Action, Sci-Fi
- Writers:
- Patrick Aison, Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
- Studio(s):
- 20th Century, Chernin Entertainment, Oddball Entertainment, Shinbone Productions
- Distributor(s):
- 20th Century
- Sequel(s):
- Planet of the Apes, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes
- prequel(s):
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes, dawn of the Planet of the apes movie, War for the Planet of the Apes
- Franchise(s):
- Planet of the Apes
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