The cast of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes expands with the addition of William H. Macy. While details about the Shameless star's role have not yet been revealed, it's been reported by Deadline that the actor has officially joined the cast of the upcoming sequel. He is the latest name to get involved following the previous additions of cast members Owen Teague (The Stand), Freya Allen (The Witcher), and Peter Macon (The Orville).
Wes Ball (Maze Runner films) directs using a screenplay written by Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Patrick Aison. Producing the film are Joe Hartwisk Jr., Jaffa, Silver, and Jason Reed, while Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping will executive produce.
This marks one of the first roles for Macy following his highly acclaimed run on the Showtime series Shameless. For his role as Frank Gallagher, which he played for 11 seasons, Macy had been nominated for an Emmy several times, though he previously won for his work on Door to Door. The actor, who was also nominated for an Oscar for his role in Fargo, has since been starring in the hit series The Dropout and can be seen in the upcoming rom-com Maybe I Do with Diane Keaton and Richard Gere.
The Planet of the Apes Franchise Continues
The Planet of the Apes franchise has been rebooted multiple times, and collectively, the films have garnered more than $1.8 billion at the box office. The original movie was released in 1968, and when it was met with great success, a franchise was born. Four sequels would be made to fllow that first film along with two TV series adaptations.
Tim Burton would later reboot Planet of the Apes in 2001. When the franchise went dormant again, it was later revived with the 2011 reboot Rise of the Planet of the Apes. That film was followed by two sequels, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in 2014 and War for the Planet of the Apes in 2017. Meanwhile, the hope for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is to again launch another trilogy.
“On the Ball front, sources say 20th and Disney were very high on the script that came in last month and are now set to find the star of the film that will hopefully lead future installments of new trilogy of films,” Justin Kroll of Deadline reported last year.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes does not yet have an official premiere date set.