Smart simians stare at the stars in 1st 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' teaser (video)

Halloween just ended and the holiday season is barely upon us, yet Hollywood heavyweights are already jockeying for position in the mad rush for prime 2024 release slots for their potential cinematic blockbusters.

For example, 20th Century Studios just announced it will release "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" on May 24, 2024, the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. The studio also unveiled a first-look teaser trailer for the upcoming film, which picks up the action several years after the transforming events found in director Matt Reeves' "War for the Planet of the Apes" from back in 2017.

According to this fresh preview, director Wes Ball's next installment in the iconic "Planet of the Apes" franchise chronicles the continuing clash between humanity and intelligent apes. The "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" cast includes Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Peter Macon, Eka Darville, Kevin Durand, William H. Macy and Dichen Lachman.

Related: The space-age origins of 'Planet of the Apes'

Here's the official synopsis:

"Director Wes Ball breathes new life into the global, epic franchise set several generations in the future following Caesar's reign, in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike."

Ball is best known for directing the theatrical trilogy "The Maze Runner." In the upcoming film, he's operating from a screenplay written by Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver and Patrick Aison. Ball, Jaffa, Silver, Joe Hartwick Jr. and Jason Reed are serving as producers, alongside Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping as executive producers.

This captivating film franchise began with the 1968 classic "Planet of the Apes" starring Charlton Heston, which was adapted from Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel.

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The famous 1968 film spawned four big-screen sequels and two short-lived TV series running throughout the 1970s. 2001 brought director Tim Burton's unpopular remake before a reboot trilogy started with 2011's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," then 2014's "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," and finally 2017's "War for the Planet of the Apes."

The creative property has also lived on in numerous comic book series and graphic novels delivered by Marvel Comics, Malibu, Dark Horse Comics and Boom! Studios.