That tentpole blood bath that was to occur over Memorial Day weekend between 20th Century Studios’ Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Warner Bros/Village Roadshow’s Furiosa is no longer: The former Apes reboot is now shifting two weeks earlier to May 10.
On its new date, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will be up against such wide studio releases as Focus Features’ Amy Winehouse biopic, Back to Black, Sony’s Horrorscope, and an untitled movie from Angel Studios. Still, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will be the alpha male among that counterprogramming.
Also in the mix on Memorial Day weekend, which is May 24-27, is Sony’s Garfield movie.
By going earlier, Disney gets Imax screens for two weeks before Furiosa. It’s also the first time a Planet of the Apes movie will have played in Imax.
Wes Ball directs off a screenplay by Patrick Aison, Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver. Here’s the blurb for the pic: Many years after the reign of Caesar, a young ape goes on a journey that will lead him to question everything he’s been taught about the past and make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
The recent trilogy of Planet of the Apes movies from 2011-2017 grossed $1.68 billion at the global box office. The first movie, based on Pierre Boulle’s novel, launched in 1968 and grossed over $32M stateside, unadjusted for inflation. Several sequels were spawned in the 1970s with a reboot from Tim Burton in 2001 which made $362M-plus at the global box office. All in The Planet of the Apes franchise has minted over $2.1 billion worldwide.