Director Wes Ball shared some exciting details about the sequel to ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.’
‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ ended with signs of a growing conflict between Noa’s ape clan and a human army. According to Ball, this is just the beginning of a new story that will continue through a planned sequel trilogy.
Ball told Ape Nation that Noa and Mae are on separate hero’s journeys. “[Noa] 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 explains.
Mae helps humans by giving them a satellite decryption key, and it brings together small groups of intelligent humans who survived in isolated pockets. Ball hinted that the next films will dig deeper into the story of these two.
The director also said that the movie’s ending provides some closure, but it’s actually setting the stage for what’s to come. “There’s literally a door that opens at the end to hopefully many more possibilities, the relationship between Mae and Noa, and how they’ve changed each other.”
The sequel could also change the story direction like how 2014’s ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ showed the apes gaining power over the humans.
The sequel hasn’t been officially greenlit yet, but Ball is hopeful. He believes that once a full trilogy plan is set, work on the next movie will move forward. As for his future plans, he said, “I think once we all feel comfortable with that, then we’ll start that process of, ‘Okay, when do we shoot it? How do we shoot it, where do we shoot it?'”
He also shared that he has a lot of visual ideas for the next film.
‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ was a financial success. It grossed over $397 million worldwide on a $160 million budget. The film is currently available to stream on Hulu.
