‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Director/Producer on Creating a ‘Prequel and a Sequel’ to the Iconic Franchise

Within the closing moments of 1968’s Planet of the Apes, Charlton Heston’s George Taylor slams his fists into the sands as soon as he involves the conclusion that the horrifying Planet of the Apes he landed on is, in reality, Earth. As waves crashed into Heston and the decaying ruins of the Statue of Liberty have been slowly revealed, one of the crucial indelible pictures in cinema historical past was born.

That second wouldn’t solely stun audiences, however it will later go away a mark on a younger Wes Ball — the director/producer of twentieth Century Studios’ Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which opens this weekend in theaters nationwide. (The movie, which is Licensed Contemporary on Rotten Tomatoes, may also be accessible in IMAX®, Dolby Cinema®, 4DX, ScreenX, and premium screens all over the place.)

“I had very early reminiscences of watching the unique 1968 film on TV,” Ball stated this week. “The pictures are type of ingrained in my mind, so I used to be drawing on that rather a lot, making this film.”

Kingdom is the most recent chapter within the Planet of the Apes franchise following three groundbreaking movies (2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, 2014’s Daybreak of the Planet of the Apes and 2017’s Battle for the Planet of the Apes), which have introduced in a mixed $1.6 billion on the worldwide field workplace.

The brand new movie takes place many generations after Battle and tells the story of a younger ape’s harrowing journey throughout a brand new empire. Ball stated that for the reason that arc of Andy Serkis’ Caesar ended within the prior trilogy, Kingdom is a “type of a prequel and a sequel” in that it falls after the final three movies, however earlier than the occasions of the 1968 traditional.

“Following Caesar’s storyline, through which the character goes from Pinocchio in Rise to a Moses determine in Battle, we needed to make a brand new chapter on this lengthy legacy of Apes movies,” Ball stated. “We gave it a brand new spirit, a brand new character, a youthful character, who’s going to rediscover a world with us because the viewers.”

Regardless of the brand new Kingdom that Ball and crew are constructing, the movie maintains most of the distinctive hallmarks of the prior Planet of the Apes movies, together with progressive particular results that deliver the apes to life utilizing efficiency seize expertise.

It additionally makes use of expertise to construct a dilapidated post-apocalyptic world through which rusty ships have washed up on shore and skyscrapers have been engulfed by forests.

“This film is constructed for that nice collective dream that all of us enter after we go to a theater collectively. It’s meant to be large,” Ball stated. “You wish to immerse your self on this world that’s simply extremely wealthy and visible.”

However the Planet of the Apes franchise is extra than simply results and world constructing, it’s a narrative that holds “a mirror to ourselves and reminds us of what it means to be people,” based on Ball.

“You see humanity, regardless that they’re apes,” he stated. “There’s loads of stuff that I feel will resonate with audiences in regards to the world as we speak. However we hope audiences simply have an excellent journey with these new characters and that Kingdom continues this legacy of movies which were iconic for the final 55 years.”