And yet another release date change this week. 20th Century Studios has announced Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes has moved its release date, but it is moving up rather than delayed as the new Apes film will be released on May 10th.
The date change moves the film away from WB and George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa, which stars Anya Taylor-Joy as a young version of Charlize Theron’s hero from the previous film. Both films were to be released the Memorial Day weekend and are new installments to quite popular franchises, but with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes coming out two weeks earlier it will have plenty of time on its own as one of the major summer releases in theatres. It will also be the first time a Planet of the Apes film has been released on IMAX screens, which will run on IMAX until Furiosa hits theatres.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes takes place centuries after the most recent Apes trilogy, which consisted of Rise of, Dawn of and War for the Planet of the Apes. The new film, directed by Wes Ball, will begin a new trilogy as ape society evolves in the wake of Caesar’s passing after leading his ape clan to freedom.
Many apes societies have grown from when the Moses-like Caesar brought his people to an oasis, while humans have been reduced to feral-like. Some ape groups have never heard of Caesar, while others have contorted his teaching to build burgeoning empires.
In this setting, one ape leader begins to enslave other groups to find human technology, while another ape, who watched his clan be taken, embarks on a journey to find freedom. A young human woman becomes key to the latter’s quest, although she has plans of her own.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is directed by Wes Ball (The Maze Runner) and features a cast that includes Owen Teague (It), Freya Allan (The Witcher), Peter Macon (The Orville), Kevin Durand (Locke & Key), Travis Jeffery (Unbroken, Neil Sandilands (Sweet Tooth), William H. Macy (Shameless), Sara Wiseman (One Of Us Is Lying), Ras-Samuel Welda’abzgi (The Clearing), Lydia Peckham (Cowboy Bebop) and Dichen Lachman (Severance).
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will be released on May 10th, 2024.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
Originally published January 13, 2024. Updated March 24, 2024.
