In March, Disney officially closed on a deal to acquire 20th Century Fox, adding a ton of IP to its already-vast library. Notably, that meant that the X-Men will eventually end up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it looks like Disney has some big plans for some of Fox’s other franchises. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it’s begun development on a new Planet of the Apes film.
The franchise is based on the 1963 novel Planet of the Apes by French author Pierre Boulle, about a group of astronauts that land on a strange world where apes and humans have switched places. It was originally adapted for film in 1968 starring Charlton Heston and directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. That film was later followed by four additional films (Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, and Battle for the Planet of the Apes), as well as a pair of TV shows. Fox produced a remake in 2001, directed by Tim Burton, and a second remake series began in 2011 with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and was continued in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War of the Planet of the Apes, which earned considerable critical acclaim.
THR says that this is the first big franchise that’s getting “the redevelopment treatment” to come out of the deal. The studio is bringing on Wes Ball (Maze Runner series) to direct the project, and it’s not clear what this film will be: yet another reboot of the entire franchise, or if it’ll be a continuation of the most recent series.
That Disney is digging into Fox’s parts bin for new projects shouldn’t come as a surprise: it acquired Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Marvel Studios with the intention of capitalizing on those investments, all of which have paid off handsomely. Fox has a number of major franchises that are undoubtably appealing to Disney, such as Alien, Avatar, Predator, and others. And with Disney + now in the mix, it’s not inconceivable to imagine that Planet of the Apes could come to more than just theaters somewhere down the road.
I’m just happy they were able to bring the new trilogy to a satisfying conclusion before the Disney Blob got ahold of it. Having said that, though, I’m still interested to see what the Blob does with the franchise.
I wouldn’t mind seeing an adaptation closer to the original story, which was recently done in graphic novel form by Dana Gould and friends. Apes in the big city!
I understand it is so much easier for these studios to use old stories, films, etc., but at what point are people going to start demanding originality in their films?
@2
The hunger for originality is always there, but I don’t think we’re going to find much of it from Disney or any of the big studios right now. They’ve devoted themselves to a holistic religion of bombast and relatively safe spreadsheet decision making, which is understandable. They’re owned by massive corporations. They have boards and stockholders to please.
The trick is finding originality elsewhere, and for that I’m hopeful we’ll see a great resurgence in indie filmmaking over the next decade, like we saw in the ’90s as a response to the bombast of the ’80s. But now there are more venues than ever for artists to be heard. The trick is finding those voices in all the loud noise.
Does anyone out there miss dialogue driven movies in which the characters actually have meaningful conversations?
My first thought is that they should continue the current series, since there’s still a lot more history that could be explored as the apes build their new civilization. But my conflicting thought is that I’m not sure I trust anyone other than Matt Reeves to continue that narrative as well as he did. Still, I’ve been quite pleased with Disney’s output in franchises like Marvel and Star Wars, so they might do a good job with this as well.
@2/markmaverik: Most human creativity throughout history has been retellings of earlier stories; it was the only way stories survived before literacy was common. The great plays of Greek theater were retellings of myths, and nearly every one of Shakespeare’s plays was a “reboot” of some earlier play, legend, or historical text. Originality isn’t about where an idea comes from, it’s about what you turn it into when you get hold of it.
Indeed, the Planet of the Apes franchise shows that very clearly, because both generations of screen adaptations (Tim Burton who?) have totally reinvented the premise from the original novel’s version, and both film series are successful and engaging in radically different ways. That is originality.
@4/Paladin Burke: From your question, I have to think you didn’t see the recent PotA trilogy. All three films were quite intelligent with lots of meaningful conversations and character interactions, not always involving humans. They’re really a fantastically well-done series, with my only criticism being that the latter two films are lacking in diverse casting.
@5/CLB: Agreed as to the PotA trilogy.
@5
That’s all true, but there is some difference today with the retelling of stories not only for their value as stories but also their pop cultural cash value. It’s not just hearing specific lines from Shakespeare repeated and reinterpreted, it’s that ‘thing we know’ being treated as a product, aggressively expanded upon and marketed towards fans with the precision of a smart bomb.
In addition and somewhat ironically, if the rulers of the ancient past were anything like Disney, we’d still have to bow to their decrees of copyright on Hercules and all the rest. O sing of their great conquests over culture and antitrust laws!
I mean, it’s hard to take the comparison to antiquity seriously when we’re talking about a company that has zero respect for the public domain. They’re carrying on with Mickey Mouse as if this was still 1928.
@8/Tregoweth: It’s not about Disney. People have been spewing the kneejerk “Why can’t Hollywood do anything original?” whine for generations on end, and it’s always equally misguided and ignorant of film history, cultural history, and the way creativity works in general. Plus it’s also, ironically, a staggeringly unoriginal complaint that I’ve gotten sick of hearing every single damn time there’s a conversation about a remake of anything whatsoever.
Personally, I prefer new stories. And the Pierre Boulle novel wasn’t very good to start with. On the bright side, a remake of something I’m disinterested in is much easier to ignore than a remake of something I love. And for new stories, there’s always books.
@9/Christopher: “Plus it’s also, ironically, a staggeringly unoriginal complaint”
Nothing ironic about that. Criticism should be to the point; it doesn’t have to be original or new.