Producer and director Wes Ball addressed the possibility of a Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes sequel.
Following the 2010s Planet of the Apes trilogy, Kingdom relaunched the franchise, taking place many generations after the death of the franchise's previous main character, Caesar.
After earning $397.3 million at the global box office, some believe this was enough to greenlight two more films to complete a trilogy under Ball's tutelage. This should not be too surprising as Ball confirmed with The Direct that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes cost "less" than the previous three films.
Wes Ball Updates Planet of the Apes Sequel
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes director and producer Wes Ball joined Ape Nation's YouTube page to discuss the film and its future sequels.
In the interview, the Apes director directly teased the next film, saying that fans have seen "just the beginning" of characters like Owen Teague's Noa, with the series' new central ape having been "forever changed by the end of the movie:"
"It is going to be really fun to chart Noa. I am really glad that people have fallen in love with Noa. Or if not, the least receptive people were at least intrigued by his character. I think you are seeing just the beginning of this guy and where he might go. We very intentionally kind of planted these seeds in his mind that will be important both from Proximus and from Raka and his friends and Mae. He was an innocent, naive character in the beginning, and then he is forever changed by the end of the movie and will go in places that will hopefully surprise everyone."
He directly pointed to the final shot of the film which sees Noa looking up at the stars, positing that Noa has been "thrust into a new chapter in his life" that will be explored in potential future films:
"Look at his last shot in the movie. There is alot going on. We spent alot of time talking about that last shot and the expressions on his face and what is happening there. It is important. He is changed. He is thrust into a new chapter in his life by the end of this movie. It will be super fun to explore what happens next."
Reflecting on the experience of making Kingdom, Ball described it as a five-year journey that, while "incredibly fun," was also "exhausting:"
"I am kind of enjoying the downtime. The Apes movie was five years from start to finish. Granted, with some gaps and regime changes at the studio and pandemics sprinkled in there. But it's that last two and a half years of production, all the way to releasing the movie, was pretty incredibly fun but also kind of exhausting."
Additionally, he shared that right now a lot of his creative process involves "daydreaming" as he's not the writer of an official script. However, he does "write a script visually," and he has "tons of artwork" that already shows "the vibe of the" Kingdom sequel:
"You got to recharge. You got to kind of Daydream like, that's a big part of my process right now is daydreaming a little bit of like, 'Oh, wouldn't it be cool to see that?' Or, 'This would be awesome.' ... a lot of my daydreaming is on the visual side of things...I don't write a script, but I do write a script visually. I have tons of artwork. You know that, 'Oh, this is the vibe of the movie right here.'"
Confirming the possibility of a trilogy, Ball explained that if they move forward with another film, "[they] gotta do the third one too," creating a larger three-part story.
The producer explained once "the beginning, the middle, and the end" are figured out then the team can work on shooting locations and a production start date:
"The truth is, like, if you're gonna do another one, you gotta do the third one too, because then you're talking trilogy. So the truth is we really kind of need to figure out the beginning, the middle, and the end here, coming up in this trilogy. And I think once we all feel with comfortable that, then we'll start that process of, 'Okay, when do we shoot it? How do we shoot it, where do we shoot it?'"
Fans of the franchise are sure to be excited about what Ball has been "daydreaming" even though It seems like there is not a huge rush to release the sequel.
[ Cast and Crew Discuss of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes VFX ]
What Would Happen in a Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Sequel?
Wes Ball explained to The Direct how Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' ending was designed to set up future movies, with the dynamic between Noa and Mae likely becoming central to the next installment.
Ball described the end of Kingdom as "the beginning of the next movie" with the focus likely being on Noa and Mae and "how they've changed each other:"
"The ending is, strangely, it's less the end of our movie and [more] the beginning of the next movie. You know, we've tried to find a nice good closure for the story that we began. But there's literally a door that opens at the end to hopefully many, many more possibilities, you know, and the relationship between Mae and Noa and how they've changed each other, you know, it's going to be crucial moving forward, as they kind of navigate the future together somehow."
The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes sequel could explore a three-way conflict between smart humans, the Eagle Clan, and Caesar's kingdom.
With Proximus Caesar defeated, a successor is likely to rise and challenge Noa, the new leader of the Eagle Clan. Meanwhile, the fragile truce between Mae and Noa seems short-lived, as Mae’s true intentions remain hidden from Noa.
The revelation that Mae is one of many intelligent humans introduces another faction, potentially setting up a fierce struggle for dominance in the next film.
There are also the overwhelming hints of the main characters looking out at the stars, possibly teasing an adventure to space at some point in the trilogy. This would be a call-back to the original Planet of the Apes films from the 1960s and '70s.
As far as unknown character returns, no bodies were shown for Proximus Caesar and Raka, leaving room for the potential return of actors Kevin Durand and Peter Macon, respectively.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is streaming now on Hulu.
