We're aware of legacy we had to meet: 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' director Wes Ball

NEW DELHI: Taking on a beloved franchise with a history of over 55 years and forging a new path is challenging but filmmaker Wes Ball says he approached "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" with a lot of respect.

Right from the first film, the 1968 Charlton Heston movie "Planet of the Apes", to the more recent trilogy, starring Andy Serkis, the franchise has done "interesting and challenging things" with its storyline, the director said.

"I grew up watching the original movie and that was my introduction to 'Planet of the Apes' movies. And then, of course, what Rupert (Wyatt) did on the 'Rise...' and Matt (Reeves) did with 'Dawn' and 'War'.

"This franchise has always done interesting things and challenging things with its storyline. And it's just captivated audiences for close to 60 years. So, we're very aware of the legacy that we had to try to meet... We approached it with a lot of respect but also tried to be confident with our take," Ball told PTI in an interview.

The franchise started with the 1968 movie "Planet of the Apes", starring Hollywood Heston as an astronaut who crash lands on a planet dominated by evolved Ape species.

The commercial and critical success of the movie spawned four sequels, before Tim Burton tried to reboot the series with his 2001 movie but it was a major box office misfire.

The series was revived again successfully in 2011 with "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", kicking off a trilogy about the rise of intelligent apes led by Caesar, who was played by Serkis through motion capture. It was followed by two equally-successful installments -- "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" (2014) and "War for the Planet of the Apes" (2017).

The task at hand with "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" was to do a "soft reboot", said Ball, best known for directing the "Maze Runner" film trilogy.

"We didn't want to abandon all the goodwill from the Caesar storyline. I didn't want to leave that universe, but we did need to kind of chart a new path into a new kind of territory.

"It was a real challenge, but we all kind of kept our heads down and took the confidence and ran. We were lucky enough to continue on the storylines of these characters and go where ultimately we see it going. I think it's going to be another great set of stories in this awesome franchise."

"Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes", which currently streams on Disney+ Hotstar, is set many generations after the reign of Caesar and follows Noa (Owen Teague), a young ape and Maeve (Freya Allen), who go on a journey that lead them to discover the past, forcing them to make choices that will define the future for apes and humans alike.

As someone taking a pre-established story forward, Ball said there is always the burden of "what came before".

"I felt like it was important to cut forward and jump into this biblical story of these apes and how they rose to these incredible heights. So that was a kind of bold swing to take that approach of making this story bigger than one ape named Caesar."

Unlike Serkis' Caesar, who was a burdened leader in the earlier trilogy, the new movie is more a coming-of-age story of Noa.

"This was very much about a young person and this sort of idea of watching him go on this crazy adventure, getting into parts of the world that he feared to enter into in the beginning of the movie.

"I love the concept of a character who sets out in this world and we watch him go on a journey of discovery and enlightenment... If we're lucky enough to make three of these things, it's going to be really fun to go back and look at just this first chapter of Noah's life and where he ultimately ends up," he added.

In their adventure, Noa and Maeve come across Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), a radical leader who preaches an altered version of Caesar's teachings to his clan.

Ball said there were many references for Proximus Caesar as there have been "figures like him throughout human history".

"There have been charismatic leaders who have real vision and have a real idea. And that's the cool thing about Proximus, he believes in what he's doing. He's not just a mustache twirling evil guy, he's the hand that feeds you and the fist that will strike you down.

"The fact that he has his two sides is interesting and fun. He's a showman, charismatic and he's like a preacher. These are character types that we've seen throughout storylines," he added.

Asked about the secret to the enduring legacy and popularity of the franchise, considered one of the longest in Hollywood's history, Ball said it holds a mirror to humanity.

"There's something about apes in particular... They're so close to us that we can relate to them on that level. But there's also something odd, we see ourselves and our humanity in them.

"And because they are different from us, we can kind of judge them differently and see ourselves differently, that's why that first movie, the Charlton Heston movie, was really talking about racism and all. It allowed us to kind of talk about difficult subject matter through the lens of these kinds of ape characters."

"Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" also features Peter Macon, Sara Wiseman, William H. Macy and Lydia Peckham.