Fans of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes would do well to check out another major franchise from Wes Ball. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes premiered on May 8, 2024 to strong reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has successfully continued the good standing of the original reboot Planet of the Apes trilogy that came out during the 2010s. With plans to extend the modern Planet of the Apes franchise to a total of nine movies, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes under Ball’s direction has laid a strong foundation for the second leg of this very long-term rollout strategy.
The cast of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is led by Owen Teague (Bloodline), Freya Allan (The Witcher), Kevin Durand (Robin Hood), Peter Macon (The Orville), and William H. Macy (Shameless). The film generated $58.5 million in its opening weekend domestically and earned a worldwide total of $131 million, becoming the third-best opening weekend total in the franchise’s history. After taking the number one spot at the box office, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes has proven that its native audience is as strong as ever, especially with Ball planning to return for the next two installments.
Before taking the reins on the modern Planet of the Apes movies, Ball already demonstrated his ability to handle major franchise trilogies with his oversight of The Maze Runner series. The Maze Runner was released in three installments over the course of four years, which is a quick turnaround time considering the scale of each movie. The first movie, The Maze Runner, was released back in 2014 with its sequel Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials immediately following in 2015. The final trilogy installment, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, was released in 2018 and was the last feature film by Ball before Kingdom.
The Maze Runner opened to mostly positive reviews, earning a 65% on Rotten Tomatoes upon its release. While Scorch Trials and Death Cure weren’t rated quite as highly, earning RT scores of 48% and 43%, respectively, the entire franchise was considered a box office success. As a whole, the three Maze Runner films earned more than $949 million worldwide and became the fifth highest-grossing movie series based on young adult novels ever made. The total cost of The Maze Runner trilogy was reportedly $157 million, which is relatively cheap compared to other major action film franchises.
Although The Maze Runner divided critics throughout its three-movie run, the box office success of the trilogy is undeniable, which likely played a major factor in getting Ball to take over the modern Planet of the Apes movies. Director Matt Reeves left the Apes franchise in an exceptional position, creating the most profitable installment of the franchise by a longshot with 2014’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. With Reeves now at the helm of the modern Batman franchise starring Robert Pattinson, he was no longer available to continue the Apes franchise, which made Ball the perfect choice.
The Maze Runner trilogy demonstrated all that Ball could do with a major franchise with a limited budget. The most expensive film of the Maze Runner trilogy was Death Cure with a budget of $62 million, which ironically became the worst performance at the worldwide box office, earning a total of nearly $288.5 million. The budget for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was much higher at $165 million, but based on the box office performances of the previous three films, it should generate enough revenue to justify the production costs. If it ends up falling below expectations, at least Ball has already proven he can work well with limited budgets.
Planet of the Apes is undoubtedly a more massive franchise than The Maze Runner, with career franchise earnings of more than $2.2 billion since the original film was released in 1968. The three films of The Maze Runner trilogy are the only feature films that Ball directed prior to Kingdom, having only made a few short films before being brought on to direct his first blockbuster feature in 2014. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and its upcoming sequels will look to continue Ball’s streak of profitable franchise films. Considering that Kingdom has already become the best-reviewed film of Ball’s career, the director is certainly heading in the right direction.