You thought we were done with Planet of the Apes after War of the Planet of the Apes—the finale of the second reboot of the movie series that was originally based on Pierre Boulle’s novel? Not a chance. When Disney bought Fox in 2019, the Apes franchise was one of the first things they planned to revive, bringing on director Wes Ball (the Maze Runner series) to develop more Apes.
There’s been little news on the Ape front since then, but Deadline reports the new installment has found its “lead primate”: Owen Teague, best known as creepy Harold on The Stand.
Teague steps into fairly storied shoes here; Andy Serkis played the lead primate in the trilogy that began with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and he’s probably the most famous actor whose face is rarely seen, given he spends most of his time in tight suits doing motion capture work. Teague was very good at being very creepy in The Stand, but it remains to be seen exactly what the next Apes movie will require of him—or, for that matter, what the movie(s) will be about.
Next to nothing is known about the plot of this re-reboot, including whether it will continue the origin-story aspect of the last three films or do something else entirely. Deadline says, “Earlier this summer, Ball delivered a script to the studio that instantly excited execs about where the new story could take fans of the franchise.”
No further cast or release date has been announced.
Buy the Book
Nona the Ninth
