The latest installment of the long-running Planet of the Apes franchise was released last Friday to an opening weekend of $131.2 million at the worldwide box office. The film is the first in a new trilogy following the Cesar trilogy from 2011 – 2017. This also marks the first film released under Disney due to the 2019 merger with 20th-century Fox.
The film leaves things open-ended for another sequel, this time following the character of Noa, which makes you think how much longer this rebooted franchise can last. Now, we have an idea as to how long the creative team wants it to go.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, the husband-and-wife writing duo behind Rise and Dawn and the producers of War and Kingdom, revealed their plans for the series’ future.
Silver began by saying: “When you first came up with this idea, the Apes franchise way back, you saw nine movies. We thought, ‘This is crazy ambitious.’ But here we are. We’re at four.“
Jaffa then continued, “I don’t know if we’ll make it to nine. I would love it. We’ve spoken to not just Wes, Josh, and Joe Hartwick Jr. but also Steve Asbell and Scott Aversano at 20th about what these next movies can be.“
While it is interesting that we may be getting a nine-film franchise that surpasses the original series, which only had five, it is unknown if this vision will end up happening. The current state of Hollywood makes the staying power of franchises uncertain. 
Even if they were to make five more films, where could you go before the same message of “Man is bad” becomes repetitive? Even in 1973’s Battle for the Planet of the Apes, apes and humans could eventually coexist in peace, perhaps even become genetically compatible.
Only time will tell if this series will have staying power. Jaffa and Silver are also helping James Cameron with Avatar 3, 4, and 5, so it may be a bit before the next sequel.
What do you think? Will we get five more films? Or is this wishful thinking on their part? Let us know.
Source: Hollywood Reporter, IGN
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