Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, a new American action science-fiction film written and directed by Josh Friedman is a upcoming American movie. The film is a standalone sequel to War for the Planet of the Apes, the fourth instalment of the Planet of the Apes franchise and the 10th overall. Owen Teague plays the main role in this film, alongside Freya Allen, Kevin Durand and William H. Macy.
Ball was hired as writer/director in December of that year. The script was largely written in the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020. Casting began in June 2022 after the completion of the script. Teague played the leading role in August of that year. The film title, and other casting were revealed the following month. The principal photography started in Sydney in October 2022 and finished in February 2023.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
It will be released in the United States by 20th Century Studios on May 10, 2024.
Premise
Apes are now thriving in the oasis where Caesar once led the apes. Humans have regressed to a primitive, feral state. The ape-king Proximus Caesar uses weapons made from human technology to pervert Caesar’s teachings in order to enslave the other clans. Noa, an ape hunter, embarks on the journey with a young human named Mae, to decide the fate of both apes as well as humans.
Cast
- Owen Teague plays Noa, an young chimpanzee who lives nearly 300 years later than Caesar.
- Freya Allen plays Mae/Nova, a wild young woman that joins Noa in his quest while also having her own agenda. Noa and Raka give her the name “Nova”, a nod to the character of the same title in The War of the Planet of the Apes.
- Kevin Durand is Proximus Cesar, an ambitious Bonobo who leads a coastal tribe of Apes on the hunt for human technology.
- Peter Macon plays Raka, an intelligent and virtuous Orangutan that becomes Noa’s ally.
- William H. Macy in the role of Trevathan. A human who lives somewhere within Proximus’s Clan.
- Travis Jeffery plays Anaya, the chimpanzee friend of Noa.
- Lydia Peckham plays Soona, the female chimpanzee friend of Noa.
- Neil Sandilands as Koro, Noa’s father.
Additional, Eka Daville and Ras-Samuel Weld A’abzgi have also been cast for roles that are not yet known.
Production
Writing and pre-production
Matt Reeves, director of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014 and War for the Planet of the Apes 2017), revealed in October 2016 that he has ideas for the fourth installment of the Planet of the Apes Reboot series. Reeves, along with Mark Bomback, expressed interest in sequels as War came out. Reeves stated that Steve Zahn character Bad Ape established a primate universe “much bigger” than just Caesar group of apes. He added that some apes have “grown up without Caesar’s guidance” and suggested that conflicts would occur if Caesar’s apes were to encounter outsiders. Bomback thought that there was “probably only one big chapter” left to tell, explaining how Caesar became “this Moses character in the Apes universe”. He said that other filmmakers could work on the second film and it might take place many years after war. He clarified, however, that no discussions had taken place about a possible sequel. His desire was to “take some time off and rest for a while.”
After acquired 20th Century Fox in April 2019, the Walt Disney Company revealed that more Planet of the Apes movies were being developed. It was announced in August that all future films would take place in the same world as Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Wes Ball, who had previously collaborated with Reeves in a film version of Mouse Guard, was confirmed to write and direct this film by December. Disney canceled the film after the merger and approached Ball to develop a new Planet of the Apes.
Ball announced in February 2020 that this film was not a remake, but would instead be chronicling the “Caesar legacy”. Joe Hartwick Jr., and David Starke have also been confirmed as producers. It was announced in April that Peter Chernin would be the executive producer. Chernin Entertainment produced previous installments. This will be the last film produced by 20th Century Studios before they move to for Netflix. It was announced the following month that Josh Friedman and Ball would be co-writing the script, while Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver were returning to produce the movie after producing the other installments. Ball and Friedman discussed the script via Zoom videos calls. This routine continued when the Covid-19 pandemic started. Ball said that instead of being a sequel to war the film will feel like a continuation of previous films. He also stated that in spite of pandemic, the film can begin virtual production as soon as the next few weeks.
The script was completed in the month prior, and the subsequent search began for the star. In September 2022 the title of the movie was announced as Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. The story takes place several years after the events of War. Jaffa Silver and Patrick Aison have joined the screenwriting team. Ball is no longer listed as a screenwriter. Jason Reed, Jenno topping, and Starke were announced as producers and executives, respectively.
Ball said the movie was set in the “Dark Ages”, when the apes rediscovered lost objects from the past. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is 300 years after Caesar’s demise. Noa, he felt, was not a child or an adult but rather a character placed in “extraordinary circumstances” and living with a nomad apes tribe. Teague stated Noa does not have an identity, but is inspired by Caesar and his message “apes united strong”. Proximus was compared to Thomas Edison because he was the inventor who rediscovered electrical knowledge that had been lost in the Dark Ages. Durand thought that Proximus Caesar is a title he chose himself, since his aim was to maintain the prosperity of the apes while subverting Caesar’s original teachings. After being inspired by the 2006 film – Apocalypto, he decided to alter the timeline. It gave him the opportunity to create a new “trajectory”. Hartwick Jr. said that Noa was exploring the world in the movie for the very first time.
Casting
Owen Teague will join the cast in August 2022 as the motion capture lead. Freya Alan, Peter Macon, Seo House, Eka Davila, and Kevin Durand all joined the cast the following month after the title of the movie and the release date was announced. Travis Jeffery was added in October, along with Neil Sandilands and Sara Wiseman. Ras-Samuel Weld A’abzgi, Lydia Peckham, and Ras Samuel Weld A’abzgi joined the cast later.
Filming
The principal photography for Forbidden Zone began at Disney Studios Australia, Sydney in October 2022, partially funded by the Australian Government. The filming ended on February 15th, 2023. Ball said that the majority of filming was done on location and using Motion-Capture.
Visual effects and post-production
Ball stated that the film didn’t use The Volume, which was previously used for The Mandalorian. Instead, the focus of the filming took place on location and full CG. Ball compared the CG of this film to James Cameron’s Avatar series. The team employed techniques from their previous film Avatar : The Way of Water 2022 when they worked on an action scene involving a hunt for humans on rivers. The CG models of apes based upon motion-captured performances had to look realistic while interacting with the water.