The plans for a new trilogy starting with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes now make sense, thanks to information revealed by the upcoming film's writers. The Planet of the Apes franchise kicked off in 1968 with the release of the original film, during which a group of astronauts found themselves on a strange world inhabited by intelligent apes and primitive humans, a story spanning five films, a television series, and an animated series, before Tim Burton attempted a reboot in 2001. Though this was a critical failure, Rise of the Planet of the Apes successfully rebooted the franchise in 2011, penned by screenwriters Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa.

Each film in the more recent Planet of the Apes trilogy, including Rise, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War for the Planet of the Apes, achieved critical acclaim, making the development of further films in the franchise inevitable. This is set to continue with the 2024 release of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which will pick up many years after the events of War, during which Andy Serkis' Caesar, the leader of the ape community, died while saving his family. In an interview with FilmSpeak, Silver and Jaffa revealed new information about their upcoming dystopian flick, which further expands the future of the franchise.

Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes Begins A New Story


The storyline that started in 2011 with the Rise of the Planet of the Apes movie focused primarily on Caesar, a genetically enhanced chimpanzee who sparks an ape revolution against humanity. Rise, Dawn, and War highlighted Caesar's rise to power, formation of a new civilization, birth of a new family, and ultimate demise during a battle with the human paramilitary faction of Alpha-Omega, led by Woody Harrelson's confident Colonel. Caesar's legacy will live on after War, thanks to the introduction of his young family, who will be the focus of the franchise going forward, as Owen Teague is set to portray Cornelius in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will take place a number of years after the events of the War for the Planet of the Apes movie, which suggests that the world will have moved on further, with the apes establishing a greater civilization, as teased by the use of "Kingdom" in the film's title. Cornelius was born during War, so the fact that he'll now be seen as an adult means that new stories will be told in the upcoming project, while still continuing Caesar's legacy. Both ape and human characters will be appearing in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, suggesting it'll be a while until the franchise catches up with the original 1968 story.

New Planet Of The Apes Trilogy Can Properly Set Up The Original Story


Though nothing has been officially confirmed, Disney and 20th Century Studios have revealed that, due to them being pleased with the story for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the upcoming film could launch a new trilogy in the Planet of the Apes franchise. In their interview, Silver and Jaffa confirmed that they won't be rushing to catch up to the original 1968 story of Planet of the Apes, instead choosing to continue finding an "interesting story to tell with interesting characters." This means that, while the franchise will catch up to the original film series at some point, there are still new stories to tell before that happens.

1968's original Planet of the Apes featured Charlton Heston, Robert Gunner, and Jeff Burton as astronauts who crash on an unknown planet in the distant future, coming face-to-face with intelligent apes. The iconic ending of Planet of the Apes revealed that this was a future Earth, destroyed by an apocalyptic nuclear war. The vessel that the original crew departed in could be seen during a blink-and-miss-it moment in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, so the franchise is certainly headed for a reimagining of the original story, which can find some real connections with the development of a new trilogy, starting with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

Stories To Tell Before Planet Of The Apes Is Remade


Despite taking place years after the end of War for the Planet of the Apes, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will still feature both ape and human characters, meaning the Planet of the Apes timeline isn't ready to catch up to the original story, which investigates how apes have become intelligent, and humanity has regressed to a primitive form. Freya Allan will play the human lead, while Owen Teague will portray Caesar's grown-up son, Cornelius. It's possible that humanity will now be on their last legs, particularly after the ravages of the Simian Flu, but there's a long way to go until humanity is primitive once again.

Even though the storyline will eventually catch up to that of Franklin J. Schaffner's 1968 original film, many are wondering whether Planet of the Apes will be remade, or if the franchise will simply stop once the stories align. It would make sense for the original film to be reimagined with modern technology, keeping in line with the realistic depictions of apes as shown in the Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy, since these films have demonstrated the ground-breaking use of motion capture technology to create supremely lifelike ape characters. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will more than likely spout a new trilogy that will answer all of these burning questions.