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The apes will live on. Deadline has confirmed that 20th Century Fox under its new parent Disney has tapped Maze Runner filmmaker Wes Ball to develop a new Planet of the Apes movie. It’s very early in the works, and it’s not certain if this will pick up where Matt Reeves’ War for the Planet of the Apes left off or if it’s a complete remake.

Starting in 1968, the movies spawned 5 titles based on Pierre Boule’s French novel along with a ’70s series and action figures before there were Star Wars toys. Tim Burton rebooted with one pic starring Mark Wahlberg in 2001. It earned $362.1M worldwide, but didn’t spawn a new series. But then in 2011, Rise of the Planet of the Apes gave a more modern spin on the tale with Andy Serkis in the role of Caesar the ape, who morphs from lab study to king of the monkeys. Through three movies including Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War, the trio grossed $1.68 billion around the globe.

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We have learned that Daniel Dorrance has joined the crew for Wes Ball’s ‘Planet of the Apes’ reboot for 20th Century Studios as the film’s production designer.

Wes Ball will write and direct the new ‘Planet of the Apes’ reboot with David Starke and Joe Hartwick Jr set to produce the film.

Daniel Dorrance has worked alongside Wes Ball as the production designer on some of his films including ‘Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials’ and ‘Maze Runner: The Death Cure’, he was also a part of the production design team for Wes Ball’s ‘Mouse Guard’ film that was cancelled following Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox.

Sources say that the film will be a reboot so it is unlikely that it will be connected to the previous ‘Planet of the Apes’ trilogy that was done under 20th Century Fox. My prediction is that it will reboot the original 1968 film. The film is targeting to begin filming later this year, which likely will mean a 2022 release date.

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What’s new with Planet of the Apes?

We are expecting a draft very shortly, and it’s Wes Ball attached to direct. We hope to go by the late summer, early fall.

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The next Planet of the Apes movie is coming in focus, with 20th Century Studios confirming the cast for the newly titled Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. The film from director Wes Ball stars Owen Teague, and newly announced castmembers Freya Allen and Peter Macon. It is slated for a 2024 release.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes picks up many years after War for the Planet of the Apes, the 2017 feature that concluded the previous trilogy that used motion capture technology to look at the origin of Caesar, a chimp that leads the simians to a revolution. Andy Serkis starred Caesar, with Matt Reeves directing the final two installments to critical acclaim.

Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, and Patrick Aison will pin the script. Joe Hartwick Jr. Jaffa, Silver and Jason Reed are producing, with Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping executive producing.

“Planet of the Apes is one of the most iconic and storied science fiction franchises in film history, as well as being an indelible part of our studio’s legacy,” Steve Asbell, president 20th Century Studios said in a statement. “With Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes we are privileged to continue the series’ tradition of imaginative, thought-provoking cinema, and can’t wait to share Wes’ extraordinary vision for this new chapter with audiences in 2024.”

Planet of the Apes, based on the novel by Pierre Boulle, launched as a film in the 1968 film starring Charlton Heston spawned four sequels and two TV series, with the films grossing. Tim Burton directed a 2001 reboot, and Fox relaunched the franchise in 2011 with Rise of the Planet of the Apes. To date, the films have grossed $1.7 billion globally.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes goes into production next month

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