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Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes director Wes Ball says marketing isn't showing us the whole story

That is refreshing.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - trailer 2
Image credit: 20th Century Studios

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The second trailer for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is here and unveils an amazing-looking movie, but it sounds like they're saving the best for cinemas.

It's not often that you can watch the main pieces of marketing released for a movie and then walk out of the actual movie in cinemas truly surprised. Mind you, nothing will ever top the levels of spoiling the entire thing of Sony Pictures with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), but we often wish studios would apply the "less is more" approach to the marketing campaigns, especially when Avengers: Endgame did exactly that and became the second-highest grossing movie of all time.

Anyway, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes looks even better in this second trailer, which should be the main one until the movie releases on May 10. It's big, epic, and presents everything that made the previous trilogy memorable while having its own voice. The world has changed much since mankind was almost wiped out, and now the apes are building different civilizations that are starting to clash. That's one hell of a pitch on its own, but its emotional center is attractive too.

According to director Wes Ball (The Maze Runner movies, upcoming The Legend of Zelda live-action adaptation), we don't have the full picture yet, and he hopes it remains that way. Here's his full tweet/post:

Of course, now we're wondering what awaits in the third act, especially when they've already shown a handful of scenes that feel very climactic. But that only makes us more excited walking into this one. Teasing is more effective than firing everything you have too soon!


The Planet of the Apes franchise is much larger than the 1968 original with Charlton Heston, the dreadful Tim Burton remake, and the most recent Andy Serkis-led trilogy. If you want to absorb it all, we strongly recommend checking out our watch guide so you don't get lost amidst all the samey movie titles. We promise it's a fun ride!