Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the latest installment in the long-running Planet of the Apes franchise, set hundreds of years after the events of the previous films. The franchise has a long history, dating back to the 1968 release of the original Planet of the Apes movie, which shocked audiences with its ending and led to several sequels. After a failed reboot in 2001, the franchise was revived with 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which started a new trilogy exploring the origin of the virus that wiped out most of humanity.
The new film, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, takes place “many generations” after Caesar’s death, with some synopses suggesting it is set 300 years after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes. This would put it in the 24th century, a time when humans have almost completely disappeared, and apes have formed their own societies.
The first Planet of the Apes movie took place in 3978, after astronaut George Taylor crash-lands on an unknown planet that is revealed to be Earth in the far future. The franchise’s timeline is complex, with the original film’s ending turning what was once a science fiction story into a tragic exploration of humanity’s demise.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes shows a version of Earth that is similar to the one seen in the first movie, with apes having formed their own societies. However, the events of this film take place over 1000 years before the timeline of the original movies, leaving a long way to go for upcoming films to catch up. The franchise has a planned nine-movie series, with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes being the fourth installment. Future films will likely need to include more time jumps and adopt a style similar to the new film to eventually reach the timeline of the original franchise.
