By According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney will be rebooting the Planet of the Apes franchise with a new film. Helmed by director Wes Ball (known for his work on the Maze Runner series), this will be the first franchise under Disney’s acquisition of Fox to receive the reboot treatment. It also comes after a trilogy of successful films that were already reboots of a reboot.
The original film, released in 1968, was based on a novel by French writer Pierre Boulle. It famously starred Charlton Heston and gave us the line, “You damn, dirty apes!” It was also parodied in a Simpsons sketch that is now (coincidentally enough) available on Disney+ to stream. What a time to be alive!
At any rate, that original film spawned its own series of sequels that went on to be a phenomenon in the 60s and 70s. A TV series even came about. In 2001, Tim Burton got the bright idea to try and reboot the series and that failed spectacularly. Thankfully, Fox shelved the brand for a bit until 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which went on to spawn two sequels and set a new benchmark for CGI performances.
Whether Disney thinks it has gold here or not, we’ll have more Planet of the Apes films to look forward to. What’s old is new again and all that jazz.
New ‘Planet of the Apes‘ Movie in the Works With ‘Maze Runner‘ Filmmaker Wes Ball (Exclusive) [The Hollywood Reporter]
