Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes announced, taps Freya Allan as lead

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, 20th Century Studio's next instalment in the Planet of the Apes franchise, has been announced alongside its new star.

Freya Allan – perhaps best known for playing Ciri in Netflix's The Witcher – will headline the film, with Owen Teague (The Stand, Montana Story) as the film's lead ape. Peter Macon (The Orville) has also been tapped to join the cast.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes begins a brand new chapter in the Planet of the Apes saga, and is said to take place many years after the conclusion of the previous trilogy – which kicked off with Rupert Wyatt's 2011 film Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and soared when The Batman director Matt Reeves took over for 2014's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and 2017's War for the Planet of the Apes.

The series tells the story of apes that have evolved into a highly-advanced race, provoking an intense power struggle between humans and the apes.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will be helmed by Wes Ball (The Maze Runner trilogy), with a script from Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds), Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), and Patrick Aison (Prey).

Joe Hartwick Jr, Jaffa, Silver and Jason Reed are the film's producers, with Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping executive producing.

"Planet of the Apes is one of the most iconic and storied science fiction franchises in film history, as well as being an indelible part of our studio's legacy," said Steve Asbell, president of 20th Century Studios.

"With Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes we are privileged to continue the series' tradition of imaginative, thought-provoking cinema, and can't wait to share Wes' extraordinary vision for this new chapter with audiences in 2024."

This article was first published in Geek Culture.