Fox has found their replacement for Rupert Wyatt. Matt Reeves, director of LET ME IN and CLOVERFIELD, will step behind the camera for DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. This will likely mean that Reeves will no longer be helming THE TWILIGHT ZONE movie for Warner Bros.
According to Deadline, the other directors who were in contention for the Apes sequel were J Blakeson (THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED), Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 WEEKS LATER), Jeff Nichols (TAKE SHELTER), Guillermo Del Toro, Juan Antonio Bayona (THE IMPOSSIBLE), and LOOPER’s Rian Johnson (who denied he was in the running).
Reeves is a good choice. CLOVERFIELD was a clever use of the found footage format and LET ME IN was a moody, competent, if unnecessary remake. He definitely has the visual chops to make this happen. Reeves is still currently developing an adaptation of Justin Cronin’s massive vampire novel The Passage as well as a version of the short story “Eight O’Clock In the Morning”, the inspiration for John Carpenter’s THEY LIVE.
Fox is not backing away from the May 23, 2014 release date, so expect casting news soon on this one.