‘Good sci-fi holds up a mirror to ourselves’
Director Wes Ball joins stars Kevin Durand, Owen Teague and Freya Allan to talk about reigniting the Planet Of The Apes franchise for a new chapter
Inheriting a franchise that has been enrapturing fans for more than 55 years is a daunting prospect. But with incredible modern animation tools at their disposal, and a new adventure to embark upon, Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes both honours and reinvents the decadeslong legacy of the Planet Of The Apes series with a fresh story, cast and characters.
Directed by Wes Ball, who is best known for the Maze Runner film trilogy, Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes breathes new life into the epic story. Set several generations after the events of 2017’s War For The Planet Of The Apes, the sci-fi action film follows life after the reign of Caesar, played by Andy Serkis in the earlier trilogy, in a world where apes are the dominant species with humans reduced to a life in the shadows.
While the apes are living harmoniously in the oasis the chimpanzee Caesar led them to, things take a turn when the ape king Proximus Caesar, played by Lost and The Strain star Kevin Durand, arms himself with weapons created from lost human technologies and perverts Caesar’s teachings to enslave other clans.
Meanwhile, young chimpanzee hunter Noa, played by Owen Teague, undertakes a harrowing journey with a feral human girl named Mae, played by Freya Allan, which will lead him to make choices that will define the future of apes and humans alike.
“We’re expanding the world… exploring all these parts of the universe that we’ve never seen before, and Wes is such a genius at doing that,” says Teague, 25.
Filmmaker Ball has been a fan of the Apes franchise since he was a child, fondly recalling watching and rewatching a VHS copy of 1968’s Planet Of The Apes starring Charlton Heston in his youth. In reigniting the franchise, he was keen to bring a fresh approach with new stories and characters, forging a new era for the Planet Of The Apes.
“When we first began, it was the question (of ), ‘How do you follow up that very beloved trilogy of movies, the Caesar trilogy, but also how do we fit into the long, 55-plus-year legacy of these movies?’,” says the 43-year-old director.
“The time jump is really what allowed us to open up our imaginations towards all the possibilities that we can explore here: What’s become of Caesar’s legacy, what’s been lost along the way?
“Throughout human history, we’ve had these experiences where we discover these great things, and then they’ll last for hundreds of years, and then rediscovered again, you know? So we got to explore how apes are moving through their evolution, their march towards modernity, towards what we noted in the ‘68 version of Apes.”
While Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes is very much a new chapter in the
story, the legacy of Serkis’ starring role in the reboot trilogy – comprising 2011’s Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, 2014’s Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, and 2017’s War For The Planet Of The Apes – was felt by the cast of the 2024 film.
Teague says that, in preparing to play Noa, he was able to have a conversation with Serkis about the art of portraying a simian character.
“The best thing he said to me was to take the pressure off the fact that I was playing an ape, and to just approach it like any other character,” Teague says. “He was really invaluable and generous.”
The artistry of the behindthe-scenes teams who brought the apes to life
on-screen has been heralded by Durand, who plays Proximus Caesar, who says that he felt “exhilarated” when he watched the final film.
“(In) all of the ape characters, I really saw the human stuff laid down, and I saw all of their expressions, the idiosyncratic… that was amazing to see, how the performances came through…” says the 50-yearold actor.
“I think as an actor, it’s hard to separate – even though I look like Proximus, who apparently looks exactly like me! – I was still whisked away by it.”
While she plays the feral human Mae, missing out on the mo-cap ape fun, Allan – who is best known for playing
Princess Cirilla of Cintra in Netflix’s The Witcher
– says she would love the opportunity to have a go at some monkey-business in any future films.
“I walked into the ape school dungeon (and) I was like, ‘That’s not a bit of me!’” laughs the 22-year-old.
“And then as time went on, I went, ‘You know what, I’d like a little go at that’. Maybe I could, if there was a next (one), I could ask to be an ape extra.”
In amongst all the simian fun and sci-fi action spectacle of Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes are, director Ball says, grains of truth to be drawn out about human society and the world that we live in.
“That’s what makes these movies work, ultimately,” he says.
“Really good sci-fi, it holds up a mirror to ourselves – we see ourselves in these stories. They’re fantastical, and high concept, and science fiction, all that stuff, (but) it’s making in some small way, sometimes (a) big way, a comment on the world we live in today. Things to aspire to, things to avoid.
“That’s what makes these movies tick, I think. And then on top of that, there’s this great spectacle of just the craft level of it all, the world creation of it all.
“We balance those two things: The spectacle and the truth of it all.”