Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set to introduce a bunch of new characters to the long-running franchise, from Owen Teague's primate protagonist Noa to Freya Allan's human Mae. It'll also welcome a new villain, too: Kevin Durand's Proximus Caesar.
Though Durand is hesitant for people to describe him in such black-and-white terms. "He's the baddie," he tells 12DOVE, with a grin that suggests he feels pretty protective over the series' simian addition. "But it's coming down to, you know, homosapiens or apes and obviously he's on the side of the apes, so he’s willing to do whatever needs to happen, by any means necessary, to ensure a future for apekind.
"From the perspective of the narrative, he's definitely the baddie but yeah, when you watch the movie, you're like, 'Well, was he really that bad?'" Durand continues fondly. "I mean, he’s definitely narcissistic, but, you know, he's just trying to ensure that his kind will go on."
Set almost 300 years after the events of 2017's War for the Planet of the Apes, Kingdom sees feral young woman Mae team up with young chimpanzee Noa to thwart the plans of tyrannical ape leader Proximus Caesar, who has twisted the legendary Caesar's teachings and enslaved a bunch of chimpanzees in his hunt for the last traces of human technologies.
"It was incredible," Durand gushes, when we ask what it was like to get stuck in with the motion capture. "I mean, every movement, every expression came from the performance but they just have this wizardry going on over at Weta in New Zealand where they can really trick the human eye into seeing what they want you to see. It's pretty phenomenal to get to be a part of that, it was definitely a great highlight in my career."
Before we, well, hear him as Proximus Caesar, Durand will be seen on screen as 'Peter' in Abigail, a new horror-comedy from Scream directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. Also starring Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Melissa Barrera, and Matilda's Alisha Weir in the titular role, it follows a ragtag team of kidnappers whose seemingly uncomplicated ransom mission turns into a bloodsoaked fight for survival, when they realize that their hostage, Abigail, is a vampire... and a ballet-dancing one at that.
Abigail releases on April 19. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes lands in cinemas on May 9 in the UK, and May 10 in the US. For more, check out our picks of the other biggest upcoming movies on the way throughout 2024.
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