I was really disappointed to find out that Rupert Wyatt, who directed Rise of the Planet of the Apes, would not be back to helm the sequel — not only because Wyatt did an amazing job with a film that a lot of people initially dismissed, but because it was reported that the main reason he left was because he didn’t feel confident that he could complete the film to his liking by Fox’s already-established release date, May 23, 2014. With Gary Ross, the director of The Hunger Games, passing on the sequel for that film for similar reasons, it seems ridiculous that studios are staking out release dates years in advance whether or not a film will be completed to its best quality by that time (and as 47 Ronin and The Great Gatsby demonstrate, release dates are often shuffled by many months anyway). Regardless, that’s the nature of the industry now, which already has films scheduled for dates in 2016!
So the search is on for a new director of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and like Fox’s search for a new director for The Wolverine (which eventually selected James Mangold), the list of directors contains both exciting possibilities and head scratchers. Deadline reports that the short list is:
Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In)
J Blakeson (The Disappearance Of Alice Creed)
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later, Intruders)
Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Mud)
Guillermo del Toro (Pacific Rim, Hellboy)
Juan Antonio Bayona (The Impossible)
Rian Johnson (Looper, Brick)
Reeves apparently tops the list, while Johnson’s reps claim he’s not in the running (which is a bummer based on how good the reviews for Looper are — check out Alex’s review here!) I’m sure I’m not out of line in saying that del Toro is by far the most talented director on the list, but I think that probably will work against him since he has other projects in the works and likely would command a bigger fee. There are a few other good names on the list, but there are others (Blakeson, Juan Antonio Bayona) who I don’t think have yet proven they could handle such a major project. After all, the last thing Fox wants is a franchise killer like Tim Burton‘s 2001 Planet of the Apes remake — the studio is obviously hoping to recapture the success of the original series, which was made up of five films, a television series, and an animated series (along with lots of merchandising).
Whoever gets picked will direct the script written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, who also wrote Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Andy Serkis is also set to return in a motion capture suit to play the lead ape (probably Caesar, but who knows how many years later this sequel takes place). So that’s good news on that front, but obviously Fox has a big decision here that will go a long way in judging the quality of the sequel.
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