Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Sets Record Runtime for the Entire Franchise

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is not monkeying around when it comes to its epic scale as the film will reportedly clock in with the longest entry in the franchise so far. As the next chapter of the Apes saga pushes the story ever closer to finally connecting to the 1968 original, the film seems to be hoping that it can follow in the footsteps of last month’s release of Dune: Part Two and entice audiences in for a lengthy cinema visit.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is slated for release on May 10, and will be looking to kick off the summer with a box office blockbuster that clocks in with a runtime of 145 minutes on AMC’s listings, making it the longest of the entire franchise. All indications are that this new story will be expanding the lore of the franchise into a new era, and therefore could well warrant the extended length.

The modern movies in the Apes franchise have been able to do what the older films could not; deliver something that visually creates a world where primates have successfully become a dominant species. From the outset, Rise of the Planet of the Apes introduced Caesar, an ape with unparalleled intelligence, who sparks a revolution that forever alters the course of human and ape history. The hit movie was followed by Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes in 2014 and 2017 respectively, which expanded the scope and complexity of the saga as Caesar and his fellow monkeys and apes fought for the planet they sought to dominate. The culmination of the trilogy became the longest of the three movies at 140 minutes, a record that has now fallen to its successor.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Starts a New Trilogy

Directed by Wes Ball, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes ventures 300 years into the future, into a world where the balance of power has shifted dramatically, with the once mighty human race now reduced to a repressed primal state. The film centers on Noa, a young ape played by Owen Teague, and his unlikely companionship with Mae, a young girl (Freya Allan). The story will deliver something different to the first trilogy, and will explore the way the dynamic between humans and apes has changed in the years since the events of War for the Planet of the Apes.

When it comes to the future of the franchise, that will mostly depend on how well Kingdom performs when it is released in May. However, Ball has already teased the prospect of more, previously telling Collider:

“I don’t want to say we end on a cliffhanger, but we certainly end on a new door opening, essentially, that will allow us to keep going, you know, if we wanted to. If we were successful enough to.”