We get cool new images from King of the Planet of the Apes and details including the film is set 300 years after the death of Caesar from War For The Planet Of The Apes.
The details come via the latest issue of Empire Magazine which has a featured article and cover on the movie, with new looks at Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand) on the cover, seemingly the film’s villain, and an image of Noa (Owen Teague) described as “Kingdom’s new young ape hero.”
Noa discovering his legacy
“Noa has no idea who that is,” Teague said of Caesar from the previous trilogy.
He added, “Part of his journey is a discovery of that legacy and its various interpretations. Noa has to make sense of what it all means.”
Proximus Caesar has his own agenda
Proximus Caesar does happen to remember who Caesar is but is said to have “his own agenda at play.”
“Caesar is almost a religious figure, and Proximus has taken on the name Caesar because it was the highest position held in ape society,” said Durand.
Durand continued, “It was a self-proclamation that was achieved by any means necessary, to ensure that apes continue to evolve. So you’re seeing the influence and the evolution of what Caesar left. And, like in every morsel of human history, there’s always some type of tyrant who comes along and scares everyone into believing them.”
Not the fourth movie
Director Wes Ball also said King of the Planet of the Apes isn’t the fourth movie, but something new.
“From the beginning we thought about this as a trilogy,” said Ball. “We had these grand ideas of where it could ultimately go and how it could fit into the legacy of these movies. So I’m certainly talking to [the studio] right now about the next story. Those last three movies were about the end of something. They were about the end of this Moses story. They were about the end of humanity,” he explained. “And we thought, ‘From the ashes of those previous movies, we’re gonna grow a new tree to climb.’
Going in a different direction
“The last couple of movies concerned Caesar’s burden,” Hartwick explained. “Much like The Dark Knight, they felt heavy — super-enjoyable, but super-intense. We’re going in a different direction. Noa still has a burden, but it’s wrapped in a different level of adventure, mostly because the character hasn’t been exposed to the outside world before. So we’re seeing him see the world for the first time.”
Concept Art
“It was apparent on the page that this was going to be tricky in a number of instances, where you’ve got wet apes,” said VFX Supervisor Erik Winquist referencing the above concept art. “You start getting into the need to deal with how the water affects the fur and how the fur affects the water. Thankfully we just came off a film called The Way Of Water, so we’ve been able to harness a lot of the experience and the tech that went into that film.”
The issue of Empire Magazine features interviews with director Wes Ball, stars Owen Teague and Kevin Durand, writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. Also featured in the issue includes brand new images, never-before-seen concept art, and behind-the-scenes looks.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes gets released on Memorial Day Weekend starting May 24, 2024.
Watch the trailer:
