Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes Director Says This 'Crucial' Relationship Will Inform A Possible Sequel [Exclusive]

Wes Ball's "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" stands on the shoulders of the most recent trilogy that came before it and the legacy of fallen chimpanzee leader, Caesar (Andy Serkis). That trilogy contains some of the strongest entries in the entire series, which meant Ball's venture had huge shoes to fill. Fortunately, "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" has already proven to be a critical hit, which has many thinking it could be the start of another trilogy.

Taking place hundreds of years after the events of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," and "War for the Planet of the Apes," all of the events are inching audiences closer and closer to 1968's "Planet of the Apes" set in the year 3978, where a human astronaut crash-lands on a planet inhabited by intelligent apes, unaware that the planet is Earth and humans have been left behind by evolution. Humans still live on Earth while the apes have taken over as the dominant species, but their (our?) history is being eradicated by time and the deterioration of human intellect.

The latest film's protagonist, Noa, is part of a clan of chimpanzees that raise eagles and believes humans to be feral "echoes," viewed as scavengers not unlike the way we humans treat raccoons. Noa and his mentor Raka the orangutan show a female human compassion and are shocked when they learn she can speak, and has a name — Mae. The previous trilogy centered on a war between humans and apes, a far cry from the current relationship between the species. But according to what director Wes Ball told me during an exclusive interview, the relationship between Mae and Noa will be "crucial" in future sequels.

I mentioned to Ball that Mae's presence in this timeline was reminiscent of Richard Matheson's presentation of humans in his famous novel, "I Am Legend," to which Ball confirmed by saying, "She carries with her the darkness of the previous movies that surround all humanity." Considering how few humans exist with any knowledge of how things were before, Mae carries on her shoulders the curse of information. Many of the apes do not know of the world before, including Noa, which means he is unaware of the threat humans pose against apes.

Freya Allan, who plays Mae, spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about a possible return, saying, "[T]he film feels like a setup for more. So it is going to be really interesting if we get the chance to see where these characters go based on what they've learned in this film. There's such a theme of everything that they've ever known being completely challenged, and I really want to see what they then do with what they've learned and where that takes them and how the things that they've gone through affect them." This echoes (no pun intended) what Ball told me: That "[Noa] offers peace, and she takes it with her to her world [...] The dynamic and relationship that forms between these two characters, as complicated as it is, as it becomes, is going to be crucial moving forward."

Here's hoping the box office is strong enough to motivate 20th Century Studios to let Ball continue to tell this story. You can hear my entire interview with him on today's episode of the /Film Daily podcast, which is available below:

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