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Rupert Wyatt Might Direct Fox's Planet of the Apes Prequel?

by Alex Billington
March 11, 2010
Source: Deadline

And I thought this project was dead! Deadline is reporting that British director Rupert Wyatt is Fox's top choice to direct the Planet of the Apes prequel. Wait - there's a Planet of the Apes prequel? We've been reporting various rumors and rumblings about a new Apes movie for years, but it never got off the ground. Now this hits almost out of nowhere. Deadline's report is also suspiciously brief, stating: "No start date, but Wyatt's come aboard to develop to direct." They also say the script they're using was written by Rick Jaffa (The Relic) and Amanda Silver (The Hand That Rocks the Cradle). So who is this Rupert Wyatt guy anyway?

Wyatt is a British filmmaker who got his start directing a few short films. He then directed his first feature called The Escapist in 2008, which was one of my favorite movies of that year. He hasn't directed anything since then, but if you've seen The Escapist (and not many people have), you will agree with me about how much potential this guy has, especially if they give him a huge project like Planet of the Apes. Speaking of which, I have a feeling Fox wants to keep this grounded and low budget, so that it can't potentially flop big like Tim Burton's Planets of the Apes. But details are sparse at the moment and it's too early to tell anyway.

The last time we wrote about Planet of the Apes was back in December of 2008 and it was only to provide an update on an Apes prequel called Caesar written (and to be directed) by Scott Frank. However, it looks like that project was thrown out and Fox may be going a different route, but then again Deadline never mentions the name of the project that Wyatt is now developing (it could be Caesar). I did a quick search and found an article from January this year on CHUD that confirms that Frank left the prequel, which explains why Wyatt is now on-board instead. We'll let you know if we hear anything else about this, so stay tuned. Thoughts?

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http://www.millus.org Millus

I didnt watch the last Planet of the Ape movie but I like the apes like crazy. And why didnt you post the new Twilight Eclipse Trailer?
DoomCanoe

this idea is gross and #1 is gross to
Xerxex

no, and no, and one more no.
jeffrey

The prequel was "Escape from the Planet Of the apes" right? So this is really a re-imagining of that movie I take it. Either way I hope it's better then that fucking Tim Burton fodder. #1 cause twilight sucks!
NY til I die

"how many dirty stinkin aoes does it take to screw in a lightbulb....one to screw in the lightbulb and the rest throwing pheces at each other!" -peter griffin
Moviegimp

So would a prequel be a remake of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes? If it's set before Conquest it wouldn't make much sense. It could be about the disease that wiped out the cats and dogs and how people started getting apes as pets. That sounds pretty boring though. I guess it could be set between Conquest and Battle for the Planet of the Apes. Somehow I think any new Apes movie will still look like Burton's. They should let it be but of course they won't.
Hedgehog

@5 Please don't ruin the majesticness that is Peter's quotes. "How many dirty stinkin' apes does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Three: One dirty stinkin' ape to screw in the light bulb, and two dirty stinkin' apes to throw faeces at each other. Hehehehehehe." - Peter Griffin
wish01

For some reason this morning while making my coffee I thought about how Burton's Apes sucked so bad. Must be more evidence of my secret psychic ability. Well, it did suck, it sucked as bad or worse than his Batman. Those Batman movies sucked so bad they had to make Batman Begins. Hey wouldn't that be interesting Beginning of the Apes, The Dark Apes, The Dark Apes Return. Do the Apes right Hollywood. Dark and badass like they always were meant to be.
slopshoe smith

when the f*** are these a$$holes going to finally write something ORIGINAL???? and stop trying to make thier miserable living off the hard work of others...more f**ing ape movies??? you have got to be kidding....maybe a remake of "Joe's Apartment" would be in order now????
NY til I die

@7 thanks but i knw the qotes i was jus para phrasing...but his quotes are majestic!
BoxOfficeZ

I hope they don't make a remake of Joe's Apartment.
last son

I have a feeling Fox wants to keep this grounded and low budget so that it can't potentially FLOP BIG TIME like Tim Burton's Planet Of The Apes. Alex What The? Burton's Planet Of The Apes was a huge success. On a budget of $100 million the film made $180 million in the U.S. and $182 million outside the U.S.. That's a worldwide total of $362. So the film actually made a profit of $262 million. I hardly think it was a big time flop.
People's Champ

I''m checking it out. If you dont like the news, stay home.
peter T'Sas

Ok, I will stay home.
Cineprog

Tim Burtons Planet of the Apes was for me the biggest mistake that Burton Directord this heap of Ape Shit. Has for another Planet of the Apes film, I say move on. Without Roddy Mc Dowel it was never the same.
Hattori Hanzo

Tarrantino could make a new ape movie fun.
Greg

This is weird... Why didn't they just do a straight-up sequel? This article called the first one a "flop" which is nonsense given is made $180 million domestically. It had a production budget of $100 million, that's hardly a flop...Fox is run by morons anyway.
rachel replicant

Greg, I dont think how much money a movie makes decides whether or not its a FLOP or a SUCCESS! I saw Burtons apes and yea, it was a flop! PS Avatar was a flop too! Im a big scifi fan and saw avatar in the theater..I would watch precious, inglourius and hurt locker a million times over on a small black and white tv before watching avatar again!
novanglus

My buddy is an accountant on this flick and it goes into production in less than a month. I can confirm that is indeed a prequel showing the evolution of the apes.