Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the fourth entry in the new Planet of the Apes franchise. If the team behind it have their say, there will be many more to come.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the husband-and-wife producer-writer duo Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver — who wrote and produced the first 3 Planet of the Apes reboots, as well as produced Kingdom — said that when the original trilogy was being made, Jaffa had a vision for nine movies in total.
“With Kingdom, we really feel like we’ve set the foundation for at least two more movies with these characters. But we’ll see. A lot of it depends on the audience’s reaction, too,” said Jaffa on the potential for more movies.
“When you first came up with this idea, the Apes franchise way back, you saw nine movies. We thought, ‘This is crazy ambitious.’ But here we are. We’re at four,” added Silver.
Jaffa then said that he doesn’t know if they can make it to nine, but that they have had talks with 20th Century about moving forward with more movies. “I saw nine. I don’t know if we’ll make it to nine. I would love it. We’ve spoken to not just Wes and Josh and [producer] Joe Hartwick Jr., but to Steve Asbell and Scott Aversano at 20th about what these next movies can be,” said Jaffa.
What is Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes about?
“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,” reads the synopsis. “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.”
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is written by Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver, the latter of whom was also a writer for Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The film is produced by Patrick Aison, Joe Hartwick Jr., Jaffa, Silver, and Jason Reed.
The next film in the Planet of the Apes series is set to star William H. Macy, Owen Teague, Freya Allen, Dichen Lachman, and Peter Macon, among others. The upcoming film is set “many years” following the events of 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes. After Caesar brought his people to an oasis, new ape societies have grown while humans have been reduced to a more “feral-like existence.”
