Naman Shrestha
With Wes Ball occupying the director’s chair, ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ is a science fiction action movie that takes place three centuries after the events of ‘War for the Planet of the Apes.’ The fourth installment in the ‘Planet of the Apes‘ reboot franchise follows a young ape named Noa, who sets off on an eye-opening journey accompanied by a human woman named Mae. Together, they evaluate the past and attempt to find out what the future holds for the apes and humans.
Featuring brilliant onscreen performances from a group of talented actors, including Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, and William H. Macy, the tenth movie in the overall franchise takes us on an enthralling journey across the Kingdom of the Apes as they try to take over the world, raising questions regarding the actual filming locations used to shoot the film.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Filming Locations
Filming of ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ took place in its entirety in Australia, especially in New South Wales. According to reports, principal photography for the action movie commenced in October 2022 under the working title ‘Forbidden Zone’ and wrapped up after four months or so, in mid-February 2023. Partially funded by the Australian Government, most of the film is filmed on location while using motion-capture technology.
New South Wales, Australia
All the pivotal sequences of ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ were lensed in the Australian state of New South Wales, situated on the east coast of the nation. In order to incorporate all the visual effects in the film spotlessly, the cast and crew members took over Disney Studios Australia, formerly known as Fox Studios Australia, at Building 16, 38 Driver Avenue in Moore Park. Home to nine different sound stages, the film studio facility also consists of production offices, workshops, water facilities, exterior film locations, and more, making it the ultimate choice for shooting different kinds of projects.
To record a portion of the film, the team also set up camp in the city of Sydney, the state capital. The small town of Helensburgh on the Woronora Plateau is also featured in the fantasy action movie. Specifically, a few exterior portions were shot in and around the Helensburgh Glow Warm Tunnel or the Metropolitan Tunnel. A suburb of Wollongong AKA The Gong in the City of Shellharbour — Yellow Rock Ridge — was also turned into a film set. In addition, the team also visited the southern coastal region of Illawarra to film a few scenes. Albion Parkin, located south of Sydney and The Gong in the Macquarie Valley in Shellharbour is also one of the sites where ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ was shot.
In a conversation with Collider during the Directors on Directing panel at WonderCon, Wes Ball spilled some beans on the production process. “We probably had one blue screen set on the movie. For the most part, we’re out in real locations shooting with real actors. They happen to be in these funny dots with this stupid camera in their face everywhere, which they eventually kind of forget about, but you make it like a live-action movie. You just have to image that, ‘Oh, that’s going to be an ape doing that in a year.’ That’s the whole thing. How do you give the spontaneity? That’s the thing for me,” he stated.
That’s a wrap! 🦍🤝💪 🎉#kingdomoftheplanetoftheapes pic.twitter.com/ZeKeXNuuod
— Wes Ball (@wesball) February 15, 2023
Describing the hurdles they faced, he added, “The challenge on this movie was, ‘How do you make a movie that’s so technically…?’ I kind of liken it to you’re building a jigsaw puzzle, all in separate pieces, its own piece individually, and you gotta carve it just right way over here in these different kinds of arrangements. It’s not until the last four weeks, where I’m at right now, where all those pieces come together, and you have no time to change it, and they better fit.” In an interview with Screenrant, when Wes was asked about his experience helming the hunt sequence, he revealed, “I actually had a little bit different visual style for the feral humans. I wanted them to be naked. I wanted to, I had concept designs.”
The filmmaker further divulged, “I even did some makeup tests with it. It was just, we couldn’t go there, unfortunately. But it was pretty cool. I am sure we’ll continue to evolve on their designs as we go forward, because feral humans, there’s still some echo of human in there. Even though they are kind of diminished to where they’re animals now, but there’s still something in them that would make them… You see it occasionally, but they’ll smear mud in certain patterns. There’s certain hierarchical things that you kind of see them as this slightly intelligent creature. So it’d be fun to keep playing with them as a different type of character in the movie.”
Read More: Planet of the Apes Ending, Explained
