The Maze Runner trilogy director Wes Ball’s addition to the Planet of the Apes franchise, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, is set to reach theatres on May 24, 2024 – and today the first trailer for the film has arrived online, along with a teaser poster! You can watch the trailer in the embed above, then scroll down to the bottom of this article to take a look at the teaser poster.
The story of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set many years after the conclusion of War for the Planet of the Apes. Many apes societies have grown from when the Moses-like Caesar brought his people to an oasis, while humans have been reduced to a feral-like existence. Some groups have never heard of Caesar, while others have contorted his teaching to build burgeoning empires. In this setting, one ape leader begins to enslave other groups to find human technology, while another ape, who watched his clan be taken, embarks on a journey to find freedom. A young human woman becomes key to latter’s quest, although she has plans of her own.
Here’s the official synopsis: Director Wes Ball breathes new life into the global, epic franchise 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.
The film stars Owen Teague (IT), Freya Allan (The Witcher), Kevin Durand (Locke & Key), Peter Macon (Shameless), William H. Macy (Fargo), Eka Darville (Jessica Jones), Travis Jeffery (Unbroken), Sara Wiseman (One Of Us Is Lying), Neil Sandilands (Sweet Tooth), Ras-Samuel Welda’abzgi (The Clearing), Dichen Lachman (Jurassic World: Dominion), and Lydia Peckham (Cowboy Bebop).
Ball’s involvement with Planet of the Apes was first announced at the end of 2019. In 2020, he confirmed that development of the project continued through Zoom conversations during the pandemic shutdown. He crafted the screenplay with Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Patrick Aison. Ball also said that his movie is going to feel like the recent Apes movies (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, War for the Planet of the Apes) but will also be doing its own thing.
Ball produced Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes with Jaffa, Silver, Joe Hartwick Jr., and Jason Reed (“Mulan”). Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping serve as executive producers.
What did you think of the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes trailer? Take a look at the teaser poster, then let us know by leaving a comment below.