20th Century Fox still plans to reboot Planet of the Apes franchise

By Jake Dee

Posted 17 years ago

Last Updated on July 26, 2021

“It’s a Madhouse! A Madhouse!”

Dig this shite, folks: After long considered to be scrapped, it looks like 20th Century Fox is forging ahead with plans to reboot THE PLANET OF THE APES franchise. For realz?

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‘Tis true ya’ll!

According to Vulture, producer Peter Chernin has overtaken the project, with the film currently shrouded under the guise of CAESAR to keep details from being unearthed. But we’ve got a little juice…

Awhile back, writer/director Scott Frank (THE LOOKOUT) was attached to bring his own vision to a PLANET OF THE APES continuation (post-Burton). Well, Frank’s ideas for the film didn’t exactly jive, so Fox hired Jamie Moss (STREET KINGS) to retool the script. Original scribes Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (THE RELIC) were also brought in to burnish some dialogue.

APES is a project Chernin clearly champions, as seen back in 1992 when, being the head of Fox Filmed Entertainment, he tried to get Oliver Stone to executive produce RETURN OF THE APES, a flick Arnie Schwarzenegger was attached to at one point.

As for Scott Frank’s vision of the APES reboot, his script “showed how genetic experiments on apes led to their evolutionary eclipse of humans. ‘Caesar’ refers to the genetically altered leader of the simian rebellion, so dubbed because the ape was capable of grand strategic thinking on par with Julius Caesar. The ‘Caesar’ code name also foreshadowed the script’s plot: Like the actual Julius Caesar, the ape begins a (wait for it … ) guerrilla war and emerges the emperor of the known world.”

Shocking. A premise I dig that studios don’t. Just…shocking!

About the Author

Jake Dee

Columnist / Reviewer

5,418 Articles Published

Favorite Movies: Horror: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Silence of the Lambs, Jaws, Black read more Christmas (1974), Friday the 13th (1980), Return of the Living Dead, Halloween (1978), Last House on the Left (1973), way too many to list (in the horror genre alone, not to mention out of genre film) Non-Horror: Stand By Me, Lonely Are the Brave, Lost in Translation, Rushmore, Blue Velvet, The Elephant Man, Sling Blade, The Usual Suspects, Reservoir Dogs, Caddyshack, Stripes, Ghostbusters, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Harold and Maude, The Treasure of Sierra Madre, There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, The Big Lebowski, and on and on and on and mothafu*kin on

Likes: Film, Books, Words, Writing, Rhyming, Football (49ers, Lions), Basketball, Wiffle ball, read more Womens Gymnastics, Movies, Music, Underground hip-hop, Reggae, 50s and 60s R&B, Cinema, Alcohol (vodka, rum, whiskey will do), Beer, John Madden football, Scrabble, Clue, Crossword Puzzles and Word Searches, Horror flicks, Saved by the Bell, Married With Children, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, Tales from the Crypt, Motion Pictures, Michelle Pfeiffer, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Ellen Burstyn, Scorsese, the Brothers Coen, Mexican Food, Italian Food, Cats, The Color Green, The Beach.

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