Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes has been generating positive buzz on social media ahead of its release in theaters this weekend and all signs point to it being a worthy successor to Rupert Wyatt and Matt Reeves' Andy Serkis-led trilogy.
The Maze Runner helmer Wes Ball has previously teased plans for a new series of movies. Now, with the franchise jumping hundreds of years into the future, there are endless possibilities for where Apes could go after Kingdom.
Talking to ComicBook.com (via SFFGazette.com), the filmmaker shared an update on where things stand with his sequel and threequel plans.
"It'll take as long as it takes," Ball admitted. "Fortunately because this franchise is important to the studio we'll get it right like we did this one, took our time and got it right. Hopefully, people think that...It takes time, the development itself and my big thing is I do not want to go into prep when the script is not done. I've had to do that in the past. Nothing good comes from that."
"That's one of the biggest things that movies could be doing right now is to stop doing that. We'd save a ton of money," he continued. "I think on this one that we are in a good, good shape. Fortunately, we were thinking a lot about these questions when we were developing this script, so we have an idea where we wanna go and there's lots of room for great drama."
"Literally doors have opened at the end of this movie that hopefully reveal a much larger world that we get to explore in this movie, full of drama, full of conflict, all that kind of stuff. Fingers crossed. We'll see."
We're anticipating this new trilogy bridging the gap between the prequel and original Planet of the Apes trilogies, so the next set of movies - if there is one - will presumably take us back to that post-apocalyptic landscape.
Elsewhere in the interview, Ball confirmed Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes previously had a different title. "Empire of the Planet of the Apes. That was my original title, we couldn't do it, we just couldn't."
In Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, director Wes Ball plans to breathe new life into the franchise with a story set several generations in the future following Caesar's reign. Apes are now the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows.
As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
Starring Owen Teague (IT), Freya Allan (The Witcher), Kevin Durand (Locke & Key), Peter Macon (Shameless), and William H. Macy (Fargo), the movie opens in theaters on May 10, 2024.