Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes producers have nine films planned for the modern saga: "This is crazy ambitious"

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

Planet of the Apes franchise producer duo Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver have even bigger plans for the successful, modern-day franchise.

"When you first came up with this idea, the Apes franchise way back, you saw nine movies," Silver said in a conversation with Jaffa for The Hollywood Reporter. "We thought, 'This is crazy ambitious.' But here we are. We’re at four."

"I saw nine. I don’t know if we’ll make it to nine. I would love it," Jaffa replied. "We’ve spoken to not just [director Wes Ball, writer Josh Friedman] and [producer] Joe Hartwick Jr., but to Steve Asbell and Scott Aversano at [20th Century Studios] about what these next movies can be."

The original Planet of the Apes franchise, based on the 1964 sci-fi novel of the same name, hit theaters in 1968, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner from a screenplay by Michael Wilson and The Twilight Zone's Rod Serling.

The Planet of the Apes reboot franchise kicked off in 2011 with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which starred Andy Serkis as the chimpanzee character Caesar – who was the lead in 1972's Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and 1973's Battle for the Planet of the Apes. The film grossed $482 million against its $93 million budget, with a follow-up movie quickly announced. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the fourth film in the modern saga, which was recently released in both the US and UK.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is in theaters now. For more, check out our interviews with the cast alongside director Was Ball on whether we will see a movie about Caesar's son one day and how these films could build to link up with the 1968 original.

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Lauren Milici
Senior Writer, Tv & Film

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for 12DOVE currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.