A New ‘Planet of the Apes’ Film Is Officially in the Works, Director Revealed

A new Planet of the Apes movie is officially moving forward, but it may not continue the story from 2024’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. According to Deadline, the upcoming film is being developed as a new story instead of a direct sequel.

Matt Shakman has been chosen to direct the project. He recently directed Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps, which helped establish him as a major name for large-scale studio films. Josh Friedman, who co-wrote Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and also worked on Fantastic Four, is returning to write the script.

Deadline reported that “Plot details are being kept under wraps other than the film making a return to the planet where Apes are the superior species ruling all.” The outlet also said the movie is not expected to continue the exact storyline from Kingdom, although it is still unclear whether it will remain connected to that timeline in some way.

The decision surprised some fans because Kingdom ended with major unanswered questions that looked ready to lead into another chapter. Instead, the franchise now appears to be taking a different direction with a fresh story and possibly new characters.

This new movie will become the 11th film in the Planet of the Apes franchise. The series first began in 1968 with the original Planet of the Apes starring Charlton Heston. That original run included five films before ending with Battle for the Planet of the Apes in 1973.

The franchise was rebooted in 2011 with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which introduced a more serious tone and focused heavily on motion-capture performances. Andy Serkis received strong praise for playing Caesar, the central ape character in the rebooted storyline. There was also Planet of the Apes, which exists separately from both timelines.

Right now, very little is known about the new film beyond its basic setting. What is clear is that the studio is not revisiting the early “rise of the apes” story again. Instead, the filmmakers appear to be building something different within the world where apes remain the dominant species.

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