Back in late 2008, while airing a Planet of the Apes marathon on the Fox Movie Channel, studio chief Tom Rothman confirmed rumors that a reboot to the franchise was in development based around the character of Caesar, the genetically altered ape who found himself in risking in rank in 1972's Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.
Those reboot rumors were later squashed with word that the project status was being pulled back into development hell and writer Scott Frank (Minority Report) had exited the project he was tasked to eventually direct, due to creative differences.
Not so fast, reports NY Mag's Vulture who reveals Scott Frank may be off the project but Fox is still interested in bringing Caesar to life. The website reports the studio has hired writer Jamie Moss (Street Kings) to rework Frank's version, and the original writers, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (The Relic), were recently brought back to polish the dialogue.
Frank’s Apes script, code-named Caesar, 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 (whose own surname means "hairy" in Latin). The "Caesar" code name also foreshadowed the script's plot: Just as the actual Julius Caesar set Rome on the path to the Roman Empire, the experimental ape's escape sets in motion his fellow hirsute hominids' (wait for it ... ) guerrilla war and subsequent dominance.*
The studio, however, wanted to pursue a different tack than Frank, and the writer-director was unwilling to change direction, according to a production source. As Rudin was only on board because Frank had asked him to serve as producer (the two had enjoyed working together on Jodie Foster’s Little Man Tate twenty years ago), he left as well. But now that it's been handed to Chernin, the presumed-dead project is red hot again. For one thing, as part of his golden parachute from News Corporation, Chernin has several “put” pictures — essentially, a commitment from the studio to get several movies made, even if the studio brass objects. But insiders tell Vulture that Chernin may not even need to waste one of his puts: The studio wants to make the Caesar project, post haste. A director is expected to be hired imminently.
Read more about the details here.
What do you Maniacs think? Would you go for more Ape action?
The Tim Burton version wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen. It could have been a little better but it did open up avenues for sequels.
The picture above is Tim Roth as General Thade in Tim Burtons version. They did do a nice homage to the original by casting Heston as an ape.
The picture is of Thade from the sh*t movie remake with Marky Mark.
Love Apes except for Battle and the sh*t movie remake referenced above.
Some little silly trick in the story will not make it good. Col. Taylor made the first great and set a tone for the whole franchise. Of course, Nova was hot and Cornelius and Zira were great actors covered in excellent effect makeup/prostetics. "Oh my gosh, I was wrong, it was earth all along, yes you finally made a monkey out of me...I love you Dr. Zaius"
Very true guys. Had five different Apes photos and used the caption from one but the image file from another. It's been corrected. Move along, move along, these aren't the droids you're looking for.
I'm indifferent to this one...I think they already flushed the thing down the toilet with the last one.
REBOOOOOOOOOTT!!!!!!!
When are they gonna do a reboot of the cartoon Reboot?
The Burton one wasn't all THAT awful. Paul Giamanti was great in it. Besides that, this sounds like crap. I have no interest in this whatsoever and I hope it fails miserably in the box office (Which Burton's version didn't, actually profiting on a worldwide margin in theaters alone).
i think that they need to rethink what they are trying to remake. a genetically enhanced ape story isnt going to keep me interested. i like the whole time travel aspect of both the original series and the tim burton movie. give me some more of that.
Question to kimbroo. I don't mean this as a personal attack or anything, I'm just hoping to understand the reasoning. Why would you actually hope that a film fails. I mean in all probability someone will probably screw the pooch and turn out a peice of crap. However, I would still hope that the powers that be turn out a good film that further examines the ape world while at the same time pays sufficient hommage to the original. If you have no interest in seeing a reboot fine, but it seems pretty harsh to hope for a movie to fail before having even seen a single sceen of said movie.
I enjoyed the Tim Burton one. Charlton Heston cameo, Thade scared the sh$^ out of me back then. Story was good. You guys better be careful or it could turn into a Bay type of movie.
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Great news, mayeb they can make a worthy Apes movie. The last one was garbage.
PS.......The picture isn't Roddy McDowell either.