Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes: Story, Cast & All We Know
It's been a few years since the Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy concluded with War for the Planet of the Apes, and though it hasn't been heralded as the masterwork that many feel it should be, it has certainly held up. Although we've heard about a continuation of "Caesar's legacy," nothing concrete has come to pass... until now.
The Planet of the Apes series made a big impression on film, giving fans a real blockbuster that became an epic because of its gritty story and A-list cast. It makes sense there has been plenty of talk about Planet of the Apes 4, and even though we know a little more about the return of the franchise, when exactly can we expect it? Here's everything we know about Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes story, cast, and more.
When can we expect Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes?
Click to enlargeWe don't know exactly when we can expect Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes to release, but at least we have a rough idea of when it'll launch. On September 30, 2022, the movie's title was confirmed, alongside a series of images from 20th Century Studios.
A new tweet from the ApesMovies account on Twitter revealed that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is coming at some point in 2024. With a vagueness like this, it could truly be at any time. Perhaps we're looking at a summer release to join the likes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Captain America: New World Order and Thunderbolts?
Who is In The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Cast?
The new tweet from the Apes account revealed our first peek at three core cast members for the upcoming film. Joining the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes cast is Owen Teague, who you may recognise from IT: Chapter Two.
Teague is expected to play a major part, as is Freya Allan from The Witcher, and Peter Macon from The Orville. We have no word on if any of the cast of the last trilogy will be returning (we're looking at you, Andy Serkis), but we do know who will be directing the film - and it's the director and producer of the Maze Runner trilogy, Wes Ball.
What Is The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Story?
The story of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes remains tightly locked up for now, but the announcement explained that the story takes place "many years after War for the Planet of the Apes". This news has a lot of people asking for a refresher, and wondering - what is the virus in Planet of the Apes?
Well, the series is built on the initial narrative building block of a pandemic of Simian Flu. Despite Simian Flue being an artificially created retrovirus meant to help mankind, it killed off the majority of humanity while accelerating the evolution of Apes. As each of the Apes movies carried on, apes grew stronger while humanity was pushed to the brink of extinction. We're expecting super-smart apes this time around.
Is Planet of the Apes On Disney+?
In the US, you'll have to suffer through the use of Hulu to watch Planet of the Apes, but if you're in territories like the United Kingdom, there's access to the series via Disney Plus. Disney's purchase of 20th Century Fox means that the Apes movies and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes fall under the House of Mouse.
Disney features the original film series starting with Planet of the Apes from 1968, as well as the rebooted series led by James Franco. So if you fancied catching up before the arrival of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, you'd have no trouble so long as you have a subscription.
Disney and 20th Century clearly aren't monkeying around with this one, and considering director Matt Reeves went on to helm Warner Bros.' The Batman, there are high hopes that Ball can deliver. As long as it's better than Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes from 2001, we should be onto a winner.