Ahead of the release of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Dexerto spoke with director Wes Ball, who predicts there’ll be “Shakespearean stuff” if a sequel gets the go-ahead.
Caesar might be gone but the franchise is far from over, with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes paving the way for a new saga in the long-running sci-fi movie series. Set 300 years after Caesar’s reign, we’re introduced to a new protagonist in the form of Noa (Owen Teague) and his human counterpart Mae (Freya Allen).
With the hopes of this entry setting up a new trilogy separate from the Caesar saga, Dexerto caught up with the filmmaker to find out his thoughts on a sequel to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
“Certainly our hopes and desires is that we get to make more. We have a bunch of ideas. Even when we were writing this one we were thinking about where ultimately we want to go in the future,” Wes told us.
'KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES' director Wes Ball predicts "Shakespearean stuff" in sequel pic.twitter.com/qHTvxnBBCb
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“We need to do the work, of course, and it’s got to be a great script. I don’t think we would start anything until we have that right. But we’re certainly looking forward to being able to do that.”
On a personal level, Wes explains that he “learned so much” and “had a lot of fun” making Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. This is thanks to the cast and crew, including the visual effects wizards at Wētā FX, who used performance capture animation to bring the simians to life.
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Elaborating on the themes of a potential sequel, the director highlights the heart of all Planet of the Apes movies: can apes and humans live together?
“Can they coexist? That’s what all these movies are about. And so that ultimately is where we want to go,” he adds.
“The relationship that these two characters [Noa and Mae] have with each other is going to be crucial for what comes at them in the future.
“Whatever exists between them, is that going to be enough to stop terrible things from happening? Or is it going to be the cause of terrible things to happen? I think there’s going to be a lot of great drama, you know, classic Shakespearean stuff.”
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is in UK cinemas now and will arrive in theaters across the US on May 10. You can find out if you need to watch the previous Planet of the Apes movies here, and also check out more great movie releases this month.