When The Planet Of The Apes Reboots Should End Addressed By Kingdom Director

Summary

• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
  may lead to far more sequels.
• Ball believes the franchise has plenty of storytelling potential and room to expand, but that the original movie shouldn’t be remade.
• The first attempt to remake the 1968
  Planet of the Apes
  did not go well.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes director Wes Ball explains when he thinks the reboot films should end. The new movie continues the saga of the Planet of the Apes, this time over three centuries after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set for release on May 10 and features a leading cast including Freya Allan, Peter Macon, William H. Macy, Kevin Durand, and Dichen Lachman.

In an interview with Screen Rant at WonderCon, Ball revealed when he thinks the Planet of the Apes movies should end. According to the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes director, “there’s plenty of runway for this franchise.” He even went so far as to say that “you could maybe make another three after these three,” but noted that, in his opinion, the events of the 1968 original should remain untouched. Check out the full quote from Ball below:

I think there’s plenty of runway for this franchise, and I’m sure I’ll be doing something else someday. I don’t know, I’ll leave it there. Let me say this. If I had my druthers, and again, this is not my choice to make, you would not remake the 1968 version. You would make a bunch of them.

You could maybe make another three after these three. You could do a lot, there’s a lot of story to mine there. There’s a lot of time to mine there. Go all the way up to the point where an ape, it looks up and sees a spaceship crashing down. Boom, cut to black. It goes back to ’68, and you start all over again. That would be the way to go, I think, in my mind.

Future Planet Of The Apes Films Should Proceed With Caution

Remaking The ’68 Original Has Backfired In The Past

In unpacking Ball’s quote, it is important to first note that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is reported to be the first film in what will be a new Apes trilogy. Like the previous reboot movies Rise, Dawn, and War for the Planet of the Apes, this new Apes trilogy will be chronologically set before the events of the 1968 original. That Planet of the Apes spawned four direct sequels, all of which were set after its events as the reign of the apes over planet Earth continued, which opened the door for the 2010s movies to go the prequel route.

The Planet of the Apes franchise is at a critical point right now. War for the Planet of the Apes, stylized like a classic Western with a stoic hero and sweeping wide shots, was arguably the best in the franchise. Ball’s new installment has a lot to live up to, but the early Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes reviews are positive: At the time of writing, the film has an 84% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes with 104 reviews. If it performs well at the box office, it will open the door for more sequels, possibly as many as the director predicts.

But, what Ball leaves unsaid is that the first attempt to remake the 1968 Planet of the Apes did not go well. In 2001, Tim Burton released his own version, and while it was financially successful, it was received poorly enough that the studio chose to reboot again anyway. Of course, a remake of Planet of the Apes would have plenty of advantages today, including access to better special effects. But given the classic nature of the Charlton Heston version, it would still be a risk, and Ball’s plan might be the wiser option to keep this franchise running.