With War for the Planet of the Apes opening in theaters nationwide this weekend, Inverse caught up with Mark Bomback, to help guide us through how the new Apes connect with the future apes from the old movies. With that in mind, War for the Planet of the Apes might be more connected to the lore of the original films than its two predecessors, at least in terms of laying out a few cues and markers which could “inspire” future apes to tell the stories of classic movies fans knew and loved. Never forget, this is the franchise that destroyed the entire Earth in the final minutes of the second film, and went on to try to make three more movies. Even the most diehard fan of the original Planet of the Apes films would admit that the canon of the 1968 original barely matches up with what happens in 1973’s fifth and final installment, Battle for the Planet of the Apes. Mark Bomback - the screenwriter on the new film - explains it like this: the new movies are a trilogy of prequels, meaning their stories will be viewed as mythology by a far-distant ape culture.Ĭonsidering the original films didn’t exactly have coherent continuity, this approach is not only novel, but smart.
The trilogy of new Plane of the Apes films - Rise, Dawn, and now War for the Planet of the Apes - don’t fit neatly in the same continuity of original five films.
