It was only a matter of time until a Fox property got the Disney treatment. And it appears that the first franchise to get a new life under the Mickey regime is none other than “Planet of the Apes.”
According to THR, Disney/Fox has made a deal with Wes Ball to direct a brand-new ‘Planet of the Apes’ film for the studio. However, it’s still unclear whether this new film will be a full-on reboot or a continuation of the critically-acclaimed series of films that were spearheaded by filmmaker Matt Reeves. Back in August, it was rumored that Disney was looking into a new film in the franchise that would pick up where Reeves left off, but again, we’re not sure if that’s actually going to happen.
Ball is coming off his trilogy of “Maze Runner” films that somehow were able to break the post-‘Hunger Games’ YA curse and actually be half-way decent and profitable. He was attached to a recent adaptation of the comic book “Mouse Guard,” but that project fell apart when the Disney/Fox deal happened and the Mouse House put the kibosh on the film weeks before production was set to begin.
As the title implies, ‘Planet of the Apes’ tells the story of a dystopian future where apes have taken over the planet and rule over the humans. Decades ago, the film series was massively popular, thanks to star Charlton Heston. Then recently, Fox rebooted the entire franchise, going for a more scientific, prequel approach to the source material, showing just how the world was taken over by talking apes. Oh yeah, and back in 2000, Tim Burton tried to remake the franchise, but let’s just forget that ever happened.
When the Disney/Fox merger was completed, many people wondered how the Mouse House would move forward with some of Fox’s more adult-themed franchises, such as ‘Apes,’ “Alien,” “Predator,” “Die Hard,” etc… Well, while we don’t have the details, it does look like Disney isn’t going to sit back and let the IP gather dust. Maybe there’s a new “Alien” film around the corner too?