‘Planet of the Apes’ – ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Director to Tackle Next Entry in the Sci-fi Franchise
A new ‘Planet of the Apes’ movie is in development, with ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ director Matt Shankman taking on the project.
Big news this afternoon as Deadline reports that Matt Shankman (The Fantastic Four: First Steps) will direct a new Planet of the Apes movie for 20th Century Studios! The news comes after Shankman did what seemed impossible and made a decent Fantastic Four movie.
Josh Friedman (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes) wrote the script alongside producers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver.
The outlet notes that, while not confirmed, this will not be a continuation of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, but a new original story that Shakman and Friedman are developing.
Based on a novel by Pierre Boulle, the first Planet of the Apes released by what was then 20th Century Fox in 1968. The film was a massive hit, even winning an Academy Award. There have since been numerous sequels, including a remake from Tim Burton in 2001, followed by another reboot in 2011 dubbed Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Matt Reeves took over directing duties for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes, delivering two astounding films that I consider to be the best of the franchise. The spectacle of those movies is jaw-dropping, to say the least.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, directed by Wes Ball, was much less of a critical success, though it did pull in nearly $400-million worldwide. The fact that Friedman will write the next film without Ball directing tells me that the studio may have wanted to go in a different direction from a directing standpoint. It’ll be curious to see where Friedman takes the story, since it sounds like it won’t be a continuation of Kingdom.
Stay tuned to Dread for more details on this exciting news as we learn it.
