I think we can all admit that, as much as we all enjoyed Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the franchise just isn’t the same without Andy Serkis’ Caesar. Rupert Wyatt’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes told his origin story. Matt Reeves’ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes saw his rise as a leader. And War for the Planet of the Apes was the end of his journey. The trilogy was complete. The arc felt complete. Kingdom expanded the franchise, but for many, it just couldn’t live up to the first three films. Now, according to Deadline, Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Matt Shakman has been tasked with telling a new story in the Planet of the Apes franchise.
Is it a soft reboot or a continuation? Depending on which reports you read, it could be both.
Deadline claims the story will take place in the same universe setup by the first films, but won’t continue the story setup by Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. That doesn’t necessarily qualify as a reboot. Rather, it’s a new direction for the franchise – which, if we’re honest, is something they should have done after War for the Planet of the Apes, anyway.
There’s a strange gap between the events of War and Kingdom. Perhaps the new film is set during that period. Or perhaps it pushes on beyond the events of Kingdom, which ended with the film’s lead human character, Mae, traveling and activating a satellite base in order to make contact with other humans. The setup essentially shows that apes and humans probably can’t co-exist peacefully.
While Wes Ball’s Kingdom pulled in close to $400 million globally and seemed positioned as the start of another trilogy, you can imagine that the story was going to start feeling repetitive moving forward. They’ve covered similar ground before. What the franchise desperately needed was to pivot towards something new – and perhaps even a new character like Caesar.
The original plans, according to studio boss Steve Asbell was a 2027 follow-up film. But those plans seemed to be shelved now that Josh Friedman is writing the next instalment.
But fans of the franchise know that the Apes films have been reinvented more times than most long-running IPs. The original run kicked off in 1968 and churned out four sequels. Then came Tim Burton’s 2001 attempt, which… umm… let’s rather forget that one. After that, the 2011 reboot reset everything with Rise and built one of the strongest trilogies in modern sci-fi.
Still, it raises a question. Can Planet of the Apes thrive again without leaning on Caesar’s legacy? Friedman and Shakman are going to take a crack at it. Let’s hope they succeed.
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