Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was a great adventure film, and I enjoyed the story that it told. I thought the movie was all-around solid filmmaking, and I said in my review that I would love to see this next series of films lead up to the original 1968 movie.

In Planet of the Apes, Charlton Heston starred as an astronaut who crash lands on Earth in the distant future when the planet is overrun with apes. There’s still a long way to go before we get to that point, but the story leading up to it could be a very cool and interesting one.

During an interview with GamesRadar+ and the Inside Total Film podcast, director Wes Ball talked about the future of the franchise and he would also love to see this next iteration of films build to the 1968 classic but doesn’t want it to be remade.

Ball said: “I do think there are still many, many years in-between when that Charlton Heston reality steps in, where a spaceship drops out of the sky onto a planet full of apes.”

He explained: “The connectedness of all these movies has always been a little loose, they aren’t like other franchises out there which are so absolutely carved in stone you can’t violate things – it’s always been a little loosely connected.

“In my mind if we had our choice, we wouldn’t go back and remake the 1968 version, we would build all the way up to it then start over, just go back and watch [the] ’68 version and the franchise through.”

I like that plan and I hope that this new Apes movie is a success so that we can continue this next chapter of stories that Ball has launched. This is a new trilogy, but they could go beyond that as they build up to the original film.

As Ball goes on to share: “What we did try to do is open a door to the potential of what we want to explore in the future. All these movies are about humans and apes living together or not, how they co-exist, the drama and conflict between them.

He continued: “That’s always what makes these movies tick, so what people will come to find is that this isn’t just an ape story, it’s also a human story, and ultimately if we are lucky enough to make more, that’s what we will go forward with – the relationship between these characters, how that will feed on itself, there’s plenty of drama and conflict to explore along the way.”

When asked if he would return for direct the the sequel if the studio give it the greenlight, Ball said: “Let’s see! We tried hard to make it its own standalone movie whilst delivering the potential and promise of more to come – we have all these ideas in the back and hopefully if we are lucky enough we will get to continue on with these characters and story. We will see where the future takes us.”

I think they went beyond making it a standalone movie as it clearly sets the stage for the story to continue. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes got me excited for the future of this franchise.