It looks like Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is kicking into high gear, as they are adding quite a few to the cast just after announcing the project. Wes Ball is set to direct the continuation of the original Planet of the Apes trilogy for the 20th Century and it has now added The Strain star Kevin Durand to its cast.
Durand is now the latest to join the cast which now includes Peter Macon, Owen Teague, and Freya Allen. Jessica Jones star Eka Darville was also announced to have joined the cast earlier today. there’s no word if Andy Serkis might be involved in some manner, as he spearheaded the original trilogies as the ape Caeser, but this film with a 2024 planned release technically takes place many years after the original.
It’s definitely going to be interesting to see just how they explore the titular “kingdom” and how humanity co-exists alongside the apes. There’s a lot of potential with this franchise as it moves away from the original that mainly acted as a more modern retelling of the origin from the original films, which wasn’t explored until the fourth entry, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes in 1972. So, perhaps this film acts as the set-up for where we originally got introduced to the science fiction franchise.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
