A new Planet of the Apes trailer has landed for the latest film in the franchise: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. For those who have trouble keeping track of everything Planet of the Apes movies so far, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the fourth entry in the rebooted franchise and is set 300 years after the events of the last film, War for the Planet of the Apes. Although it is the fourth film, it marks the beginning of a new trilogy.
The trailer shows us a world where monkeys already rule and humans live in fear of them and are hunted by them. The story seems to focus on Noa (Owen Teague), a chimpanzee who begins to question this dynamic, and Mae (Freya Allan), a human he saves. Scenes play out in the trailer with the ominous voiceover of Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), a violent bonobo ruler who wants to rule over humans and apes.
The three previous ones Planet of the Apes films in this rebooted franchise, including Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) And War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), were all excellent, so we have high hopes for them Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and the other two films that will follow. The new movie will hit theaters on May 10 in the US and May 24 in the UK.
How does Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes fit into the broader Ape universe?
Mild spoilers for the Planet of the Apes films below.
I’m having trouble understanding where Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes fits into the broader Planet of the Apes universe? You are not alone.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the fourth entry in 20th Century Fox’s rebooted franchise, since acquired by Disney. It takes place 300 years after the events of the last film in the franchise, which took its name War for the Planet of the Apes.
How does this fit in with the original films of the 1960s and 1970s? Well, that’s tricky. All the latest movies of recent times Planet of the Apes franchise is set before the original 1968 Planet of the Apes film starring Charlton Heston. However, let’s not forget that these latest films are technically a reboot.
Although all Planet of the Apes stories so far – including Tim Burton’s 2001 remake – could exist in the same universe or API-verse, it might be best to ignore all major reinterpretations of the Planet of the Apes story – which was originally called a 1963 novel La Planète des Singes by Pierre Boulle – as separate continuities.
This would give the new franchise more freedom to deviate from the “future” imagined in the 1960s storyline, by changing smaller details or major events. So it’s less about showing us what definitely happened before the original film and what might have happened.