Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Wes Ball
Written by	Josh Friedman
Based on	Characters by Rick Jaffa Amanda Silver Premise from Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle
Produced by	Wes Ball Joe Hartwick Jr. Rick Jaffa Amanda Silver Jason T. Reed
Starring	Owen Teague Freya Allan Kevin Durand Peter Macon William H. Macy
Cinematography	Gyula Pados
Edited by	Dan Zimmerman
Music by	John Paesano
Production companies	Oddball Entertainment Jason T. Reed Productions
Distributed by	20th Century Studios
Release dates	May 2, 2024 (2024-05-02) (TCL Chinese Theatre) May 10, 2024 (2024-05-10) (United States)
Running time	145 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$160–165 million

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a 2024 American science fiction action film directed by Wes Ball and written by Josh Friedman. The standalone 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. It stars Owen Teague in the lead role alongside Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, and William H. Macy. The film takes place 300 years after the events of War and follows a young chimpanzee named Noa, who embarks on a journey alongside a human woman named Mae to determine the future for apes and humans alike.

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 premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on May 2, 2024, and is scheduled to be released by 20th Century Studios in the United States on May 10. The film received positive reviews, with praise for its direction, action sequences, visual effects, and performances of the cast, although with criticisms towards its pacing.

Plot

Many generations after Caesar's death, the apes have split into numerous clans. Noa, a chimpanzee of an eagle-oriented clan, prepares for a coming of age by collecting eagle eggs with his friends Anaya and Soona, the latter of which he is infatuated with. However, a human inadvertently cracks Noa's egg, which results in him heading back to the city to find one. That night, he discovers members of a rogue clan that serve Proximus Caesar, who leads with a twisted version of the original Caesar's teachings. After they discover Noa's horse, they use it to head to his clan. By the time he gets back, his home is ablaze. As he tries to save his father, Koro, from the blaze, Proximus' general Sylva kills Koro in front of Noa.

Noa awakes some time after, discovering his family is taken and his father's corpse with Koro's eagle lingering behind. Noa buries Koro and searches for his family. In a forest, he encounters an orangutan named Raka who tells Noa the real teachings of Caesar. He notices the human stalking nearby and offers food and a blanket, naming her Nova. During their journey, they encounter other humans. Noa decides to leave and insists Raka stay behind with his teachings. However, Proximus' clan attacks the humans, causing Noa to have a change of heart and rescue Nova, who later reveals her name to be Mae. She tells Noa where Proximus took his clan, believing he settled near an old human bunker.

On their way to the settlement, they are trapped while trying to cross a bridge over a river. In the ensuing fight, Raka comes to Mae's aid but is himself washed away by the current and drowns. Noa and Mae are taken to Proximus' camp, where he reunites with Soona and his mother. Proximus reveals himself and invites Noa to a dinner with Mae and Trevathan, a human who allied himself with the apes. He believes Noa to be useful, and demands to know what Mae's plan is, advising Noa that she only wants to benefit herself.

Noa contemplates as Koro's eagle remains nearby, believing it to be teasing him. Noa accepts that Proximus' law is wrong, and the eagle comes to him. He confronts Mae, demanding to know the truth in exchange for his help. Mae reveals she knows a secret entry to the bunker, and she's looking for a book which could bring speech back to humanity. Noa hopes to destroy the bunker following this and lead his clan back home.

Noa, Mae, Soona, and Anaya plant gunpowder and explosives around the dam. Trevathan interrupts and plans on warning Proximus, only to be killed by Mae. They then head to the hidden entrance, which is on top of a cliff. Mae discovers her book, which is in fact a decipher key, while the apes discover an old children's book which shows apes in cages and humans as the dominant species.

As they make their way out, they are met by Proximus, who threatens to kill Soona. Mae shoots and kills the ape holding Soona. Proximus agrees to let her escape if she tells them where the other weapons are. Instead, Mae sets off the explosives around the dam, destroying it and flooding the bunker. As the apes climb their way up, Noa is confronted by Sylva. After a brief fight, Noa climbs through a small gap, leaving Sylva to drown.

When he makes it out, he is attacked by Proximus, who plans to kill him in front of his clan. Noa finally masters his father's songs to the eagles, who rally behind him and attack Proximus, causing him to fall to his death. Noa and his clan make their way back home and rebuild. Mae says farewell to Noa, standing firm that humans deserve their chance again as they were originally the dominant species. She makes her way to a human satellite base, where she presents the decipher key to another human, allowing her group to re-activate satellites and make contact with other humans from around the world once again.

Cast

• Owen Teague as Noa, a young chimpanzee hunter.
• Freya Allan as Mae / Nova, a young woman who joins Noa on his journey while having an agenda of her own. She is given the name "Nova" by Noa and Raka, a reference to the character of the same name from War for the Planet of the Apes, both of which were a reference to the original film.
• Kevin Durand as Proximus Caesar, an ambitious bonobo monarch who leads a coastal clan of apes in search of human technologies.
• Peter Macon as Raka, a wise and virtuous orangutan who becomes an ally of Noa.
• William H. Macy as Trevathan, an opportunistic human who teaches human history to Proximus Caesar.
• Travis Jeffery as Anaya, a chimpanzee and a friend of Noa.
• Lydia Peckham as Soona, a female chimpanzee and Noa's love interest.
• Neil Sandilands as Koro, Noa's father.
• Eka Darville as Sylva, a western lowland gorilla and loyal commander of Proximus' army.
• Dichen Lachman as Korina, a woman in the human shelter.

Additionally, Ras-Samuel Weld A'abzgi and Sara Wiseman have been cast in undisclosed roles.

Production

Pre-production and writing

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. 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. 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."

In April 2019, following the Walt Disney Company's acquisition of 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Studios announced that further Planet of the Apes films were in development. 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). In December, it was announced that Wes Ball would write and direct the film, 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.

In February 2020, Ball confirmed that the film would not be a reboot, instead chronicling "Caesar's legacy". Joe Hartwick Jr. and David Starke were also confirmed to serve as producers. 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 for Netflix. 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).

In March 2022, 20th Century president Steve Asbell stated that he was expecting a screenplay draft shortly, aiming for production to begin by the end of the year. By June, Oddball Entertainment and Shinbone Productions were also set to produce the film, while the search for the main star was underway following the script's completion the previous month. 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.

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. 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.

Casting

In August 2022, Owen Teague joined the cast of the film in the lead motion-capture role. The next month, Freya Allan and Peter Macon joined the cast with the announcement of the film's title and release year, as did Eka Darville and Kevin Durand in October. Travis Jeffery, Neil Sandilands, Sara Wiseman, Lydia Peckham and Ras-Samuel Weld A'abzgi were added to the cast later that month, while William H. Macy and Dichen Lachman were cast in January and February 2023, respectively.

Filming

Principal photography began in October 2022 at Disney Studios Australia in Sydney, with funding partially provided by the Australian Government, under the working title Forbidden Zone. Filming concluded on February 15, 2023. Ball added filming primarily occurred on location alongside using motion-capture technology.

Post-production and visual effects

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. 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. 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.

Release

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes held its world premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on May 2, 2024, followed by an early access screening on May 8. It is scheduled to be released in the United States two days later, in both conventional theaters and in IMAX, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, and ScreenX. The film was previously set for release on May 24, but was rescheduled two weeks earlier to avoid competition with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and The Garfield Movie during Memorial Day weekend.

Marketing

A teaser trailer was released on November 2, 2023. Bryan Britt of Inverse compared the film's premise to that of the original Planet of the Apes film from 1968. A second trailer premiered during Super Bowl LVIII on February 11, 2024. As part of a viral marketing campaign in California, actors wearing realistic ape costumes were dispatched on horseback to Venice Beach and Crissy Field in April 2024.

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is projected to gross $50–55 million from 3,700 theaters in its opening weekend, as well as an additional $80–90 million from overseas territories.

Critical response

According to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, critics described the film as having "Avatar-level visual effects", complemented by "standout performances and top-notch action", although "it doesn't quite meet the heights of its predecessors." On the website, 82% of 146 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Carving out a new era for The Planet of the Apes with lovable characters and rich visuals, Kingdom doesn't take the crown as best of the franchise but handily justifies its continued reign." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 65 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Future

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. 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.

External links

• Official website
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes at IMDb