20th Century Fox (now under the Disney umbrella) will be making another Planet of the Apes film. It’s still unclear as of now if the film will be a sequel to the absolutely stellar Planet of the Apes trilogy helmed by Rupert Wyatt (first film) and Matt Reeves (second and third film) or a reboot. Regardless, it’s good news. When Disney first acquired Fox earlier this year, it was unclear what they were planning to do with the plethora of more adult-centric IPs previously owned by Fox. The fear was that the House of Mouse would just completely disregard properties like Planet of the Apes to focus on more family-friendly projects.
However, THR reports that the Sci-Fi franchise about highly intelligent apes taking over the world is indeed in the works at Disney. Per THR:
The Apes are back. Fox has brought on Wes Ball, the filmmaker behind the popular Maze Runner film series, to develop and direct a new Planet of the Apes feature, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The move makes Apes one of the first historically significant Fox titles to get the redevelopment treatment since Disney’s acquisition of the storied studio.
Hiring Wes Ball as the director is an interesting choice. Yes, the first Maze Runner is a pretty solid film, but the second and third one didn’t exactly light the world on fire. Admittedly, Ball directed those films pretty well, it’s the screenplays that were a letdown. It will be exciting to see what Ball does with the franchise, especially if he has a great script to work with, which I’m desperately hoping for. The previous three Planet of the Apes films are great, so it would be a damn shame if the reboot/sequel turns out to be a middling affair.
Wes Ball was set to direct another film for Fox, Mouse Guard. But two weeks before principal photography, Disney acquired Fox and shelved the project.
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