Disney took an interesting approach with Planet of the Apes following the 20th Century Fox acquisition, opting for a movie set in the same continuity as the previous three entries rather than a reboot or a remake of the 1968 classic. Kingdom teased that a new confrontation between humans and apes could start at any moment now that Mae had completed her mission. The film received solid reviews and set up an exciting future for the franchise, whose sequels appear to be inevitable following THR’s recent report on Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' box office.

Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes' Box Office Left The Trilogy Plans Uncertain

Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes Grossed $397 Million Globally

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes made nearly $400 million at the box office on a $160 million budget. Based on a more traditional 2.5x rule that is often used to estimate how much a movie needs to make to turn a profit, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ box office was apparently just enough for it to break even in theaters. This is without considering other financial aspects such as home release sales. Still, given that Kingdom continued a franchise decline trend that started with War grossing less than Dawn, Disney could’ve gotten cold feet about the franchise.

Ever since Disney bought 20th Century Fox, the studio has revived quite a few major IPs under the 20th Century banner. This includes Predator, which returned with a well-received film released straight to Hulu in 2022 – Prey. Disney has also brought back Alien with a theatrical release, 2024’s Alien: Romulus. Whereas Prey and Romulus were very much standalone films with some connections to their respective franchises, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes felt like a direct continuation of the previous three films, albeit with a significant time jump and new characters.

Planet Of The Apes' Trilogy Update Indicates Kingdom's Sequels Will Happen

THR Reports That Kingdom’s Box Office Was Good Enough To Greenlight A Trilogy

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Disney treated Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes as somewhat of a test for the franchise, whose previous film, War for the Planet of the Apes, had come out two years before the 20th Century Fox acquisition. It was unclear what Disney’s plans for the Fox franchises were, but the announcement that the next Planet of the Apes film wasn’t going to be a reboot but rather a sequel to the Andy Serkis-led trilogy was met with excitement. THR estimates that Kingdom’s performance was good enough for Disney to move forward with a trilogy.

The modern Planet of the Apes franchise consisted of many “sleeper hits” – films that didn’t quite make as much noise as some of the biggest IP-based blockbusters but still performed well enough to main the franchise going. Rise of the Planet of the Apes kickstarted the reboot franchise grossing over $471 million; Dawn took the saga to the next level both critically and financially with a total gross of $710 million, and War wrapped up the Caesar trilogy with $490.7 million worldwide in 2017. Disney confirmed a new Planet of the Apes film shortly after it bought 20th Century Fox.

Given that War had performed somewhat poorly compared to Dawn, predicting how Kingdom was going to do was difficult. On the one hand, the modern Planet of the Apes franchise has been constantly delivering critically acclaimed films with groundbreaking visual effects ever since 2011. On the other hand, the franchise’s last major box office hit had been in 2014 with Dawn. However, between director Wes Ball saying that Kingdom was conceived as the first chapter in a new saga and THR’s latest report, it seems likely that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will get a sequel.

Why Disney Hasn't Officially Confirmed Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes' Sequels

Kingdom Concluded Its Theatrical Run On July 2024

Part of the reason why there had been so much uncertainty regarding how well Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes performed compared to the studio’s expectations is that Disney has yet to make any official announcements regarding a sequel. Both the director and the cast of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes have talked about ideas that have been discussed, but no official announcement has been made. However, based on THR’s report, it appears that is only a matter of time before a new Planet of the Apes movie is confirmed.

Disney likely was or still is striking deals with the creatives and the talent, which would explain why an announcement hasn’t happened. Given that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was reportedly labeled as a test to see whether the franchise could continue, the studio may not have wanted to get a sequel going too far in advance. With the theatrical run finished and the home release numbers in, Disney now has a clearer picture of how Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes did both critically and financially. Hopefully, a sequel announcement won't take long.

Planet Of The Apes' New Trilogy Can Continue The Exciting Story Kingdom Set-Up

Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes Was Clearly The Start Of A Larger Story

Regardless of the financial aspect, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ ending set up an exciting new trilogy that will hopefully move forward at Disney. Not only did Kingdom succeed at acknowledging the legacy of the previous three films, but it also moved the story forward. While Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ timeline is still relatively far away from that of the original Planet of the Apes movies, this new trilogy can take the saga in a very different direction from the relatively grounded Caesar trilogy.

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Between Noa looking at the stars and Mae giving humanity a new chance to fight, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ potential sequel has a lot of interesting possibilities. A new film can double down on the conflict between humans and apes, this time with humanity trying to reclaim a planet that once belonged to them. This new trilogy can also dive deep into the sci-fi aspect of the saga, perhaps already bringing in the astronauts and time travel. The Andy Serkis trilogy only got better with each film, which will hopefully happen again in this new saga.

Sources: The Hollywood Reporter

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Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

PG-13

Action

Sci-Fi

8/10

17

8.6/10

Release Date

May 10, 2024

Runtime

145 Minutes

Director

Wes Ball

Cast

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  Kevin Durand
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  Freya Allan

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Set several years after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the next installment in the Apes saga. Ape clans have taken up residence in the oasis that Caesar sought to colonize, but humans have reverted to their animalistic nature in their absence. Now battling between enslavement and freedom, outliers in the Ape clans will take sides in a newly burgeoning society.

Writers

Patrick Aison, Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver

Sequel(s)

Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Franchise(s)

Planet of the Apes

Studio(s)

20th Century, Chernin Entertainment, Oddball Entertainment, Shinbone Productions

Distributor(s)

20th Century

Main Genre

Sci-Fi

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