Director Wes Ball Shares an Update on His ‘Planet of the Apes’ Continuation

Back in December, reports surfaced that Maze Runner director Wes Ball had signed on to direct Disney and 20th Century Studios’ Planet of the Apes reboot. Two months later, Ball confirmed that the film wouldn’t be a reboot but a continuation of the trilogy that ended with 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes.

Details on the project have been kept under wraps; however, Ball recently spoke with Discussing Film, and he shared that they have an idea to continue the legacy that Matt Reeves finished:

“We have a take. We have a way of staying in the universe that was created before us, but we’re also opening ourselves up in being able to do some really cool new stuff. Again, I’m trying to be careful here. I’ll say this, for fans of the original three don’t worry – you’re in good hands.”

Ball also confirmed that the original writers for Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet Apes are involved on his film, with Josh Friedman (Terminator: Dark Fate) writing:

“The original writers and producers that came up with Rise and Dawn, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, they’re also on board with this. Josh Friedman is writing this thing, a lot of the same crew is kind of involved. We will feel like we’re part of that original trilogy, but at the same time, we’re able to do some really cool new stuff. It will be really exciting to see on the biggest screen possible.”

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The original Planet of the Apes film, based on a novel by French writer Pierre Boulle and starring Charlton Heston, centers on an astronaut who lands on a planet and discovers an advanced ape civilization ruling over primitive humans. In the final, infamous twist, he learns he is actually on Earth, which had suffered an apocalyptic nuclear war.

The movie was a commercial and critical hit upon its 1968 release and spawned numerous sequels and a TV series throughout the 1970s. In 2001, Tim Burton remade the movie as an action-adventure that failed to excite audiences. However, Fox found success again with a reboot trilogy that began with 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, an origin story chronicling how the primates took over that featured envelope-pushing motion-capture technology and a stirring performance by Serkis as the leader of the apes, Caesar.

Source: Discussing Film