‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Trailer Shows Apes Rule as Humans Live in the Shadows
The first trailer for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes depicts a world in which apes rule and feral humans live on the fringe of simian society. The fourth movie in 20th Century Studios' rebooted Planet of the Apes series follows 2017's War for the Planet of the Apes. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes stars Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Peter Macon, Eka Darville, Kevin Durand, William H. Macy, and Dichen Lachman.
The trailer begins with a voiceover saying, “When I sleep, I see strange things.” Another voice responds, “Memories?” The first speaker responds, “Not memories. New things. I see everything.” We then see an eagle land on the arm of an ape while another character laughs and says, “That's not everything.”
The ape character Caesar died at the end of War for the Planet of the Apes. According to a 20th Century Studios press release, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is 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.”
Maze Runner Trilogy Director Wes Ball Helms Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Wes Ball, who directed the Maze Runner trilogy, helms Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. In an exclusive interview with Discussing Film from 2020, Ball discusses how his film is a continuation of Matt Reeves' War for the Planet of the Apes, not a reboot of the franchise that began with 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Ball said, “My big thing was: what do you do for a Planet of the Apes sequel? One, those last three movies are one of the great trilogies we have in modern movie history. They are just so well done. They honored the original movies they sprang from, the Charlton Heston movies, but they grounded it in a modern sensibility and it just worked. Caesar is one of the great movie characters that we’ll have throughout time. So what do you do to follow that up, right? At the same time, I wasn’t interested in doing a part four either. We want to also do our own thing.” Ball continued:
“We have a take. We have a way of staying in the universe that was created before us, but we’re also opening ourselves up in being able to do some really cool new stuff. Again, I’m trying to be careful here. I’ll say this, for fans of the original three don’t worry – you’re in good hands. The original writers and producers that came up with Rise and Dawn, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, they’re also on board with this. Josh Friedman is writing this thing, a lot of the same crew is kind of involved. We will feel like we’re part of that original trilogy, but at the same time we’re able to do some really cool new stuff. It will be really exciting to see on the biggest screen possible.”
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes premieres on May 24, 2024.
