The Planet of the Apes reboot film has cast its new lead ape character. Based on the 1963 book La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle, the first Planet of the Apes adaptation released in 1968 and was met with immediate critical and box office success. Starring Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Maurice Evans, and Kim Hunter, the science-fiction adventure spawned a multi-decade franchise featuring four sequel films, two television series, a Tim Burton reboot in 2001, and three additional reboot films beginning in 2011 with Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The Maze Runner director Wes Ball has been tapped to write and direct a fourth movie, as first revealed in 2019.
Per Deadline, the latest Planet of the Apes film has cast Owen Teague as its new lead ape character. The actor starred as Patrick Hockstetter in the It franchise and played Harold Lauder in the 2020 television series The Stand. With Teague taking the role of the lead ape, the search continues for an actor to play the central human character.
The upcoming entry in the Planet of the Apes franchise will take place in the same universe as the previous films. The movie will reportedly be a spiritual successor to the latest trilogy that began with Rise of the Planet of the Apes and will take place after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes. However, it’s been said the new film is not a direct sequel to the previous Planet of the Apes movies, which will likely set it apart.
