With a month to go before release, Disney showed off an extended sneak peek at 20th Century’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” which showed off a deeper look at the transformed world where apes are the dominant species.
The new footage shows sun-soaked shots of majestic waterfalls, with an eagle soaring above the waters. The waterfalls give way to the tree-covered ruins of human civilization, destroyed when the virus that gave apes intelligence in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” also killed much of the human population and took away the speech of the survivors.
We meet Noa with two of his friends as they follow the eagle to her nest. He and his fellow apes speak in short sentences as they discuss which of the eagle’s three eggs to take and which to leave behind, as per the law of the apes. They plan to raise the eagles themselves as hunting partners.
The trio explores further, and Noa discovers another nest with more eggs on a dangerous cliff. But the eagle returns and knocks him off the nest, leaving him dangling from the edge of one of the decaying buildings.
Of course, our protagonist survives, and we see Noa reunite with his parents in their village. While his tribe lives peacefully, that village is destroyed by an army of apes sent by Proximus Caesar, a warlord who names himself after “Apes” reboot hero Caesar and who seeks to enslave both apes and humans.
Noa wakes up after the attack to find his village destroyed and his father dead. Abandoned, Noa finds only one other living being among the wreckage: one of the eagles from the nearby nests. After burying his father, he vows to find the rest of his people and deliver them from Proximus’ clutches.
“Kingdom” is the first installment in the “Apes” reboot saga since 20th Century Fox was acquired by Disney in 2019. Combined, the reboot trilogy grossed over $1.5 billion at the global box office. The upcoming film will be the first “Planet of the Apes” film to be released on Imax screens.
