Disney has found its star to lead 20th Century Studios’ next installment in the Planet of the Apes franchise.
According to Deadline, Owen Teague (Montana Story) has been tapped to play the lead primate in the Wes Ball-directed Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. The studio is still looking to cast the human lead but Teague wowed studio execs and was quickly offered the role.
This is what the apes consider to be their “Bronze Age”. Humans, while rarely seen, are mostly feral and considered equivalent to pests, and multiple subcultures are developing within the society the apes have established for themselves. Now, also according to Richtman, the film will follow several different plot lines and characters that are somewhat related, eventually becoming entwined by the end.
Teague will play the ape Noa, who loyal to both his clan and to his family. A rule-follower by nature, his ideals and vision of the world have been shaped by the only home he has ever known Eagle Clan. This will ultimately be this installments Caesar. Production is expected to kick off in the coming weeks.
The original Planet of the Apes film, based on a novel by French writer Pierre Boulle and starring Charlton Heston, centers on an astronaut who lands on a planet and discovers an advanced ape civilization ruling over primitive humans. In the final, infamous twist, he learns he is actually on Earth, which had suffered an apocalyptic nuclear war.
The movie was a commercial and critical hit upon its 1968 release and spawned numerous sequels and a TV series throughout the 1970s. In 2001, Tim Burton remade the movie as an action-adventure that failed to excite audiences. However, Fox found success again with a reboot trilogy that began with 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, an origin story chronicling how the primates took over that featured envelope-pushing motion-capture technology and a stirring performance by Serkis as the leader of the apes, Caesar.
