After Rupert Wyatt decided not to return to direct Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, reportedly not wanting to follow Fox’s timetable leading up to a May 2014 release date, a shortlist of potential replacements was making the rounds, topped by Let Me In helmer Matt Reeves. It was a list that also included J Blakeson (The Disappearance of Alice Creed), Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter), Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage) and even Guillermo del Toro to get the fanboys’ hopes up. Well, a replacement has been found and it was the front-runner all along.
ComingSoon reports Reeves will direct the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which made $481.8 million worldwide last year. Upon hearing the news, I reached out to a 20th Century Fox representative and they confirmed Coming Soon’s report.
As of now story details are only speculative, largely based on the sequence of events that take place during the first film’s credits, as Scott Z. Burns (Contagion) along with Rise of the Apes screenwriters Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa are working on the script. Considering Wyatt bailed on the project I have to assume that script isn’t done yet and he saw a lot more fleshing out that needed to be done. I asked the Fox rep regarding script completion and a production start and was told “those timetables have not been locked at this time.”
When it comes to the cast, Andy Serkis is set to return as the lead ape, Caesar, but there is no word on whether or not James Franco or Freida Pinto will return, though it should be noted Franco’s character died in the original draft of the screenplay only to have the scene replaced, presumably to keep Will Rodman around for future installments.
