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New ‘Planet of the Apes’ Film From Director Wes Ball in the Works at Fox and Disney

New feature will be first in the franchise since Disney’s acquisition of Fox

https://www.thewrap.com/new-planet-of-the-apes-film-from-director-wes-ball-in-the-works-at-fox-and-disney/

A new Planet of the Apes movie is in the works at Disney and Fox in what will be the first feature in the franchise since Disney acquired Fox earlier this year. And the studio has tapped Wes Ball, the director of The Maze Runner, to develop and direct the new film, and individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.

The project is described as in the early development stages, and it’s not clear whether this will be a continuation of the trilogy that recently concluded with Matt Reeves’ 2017 War for the Planet of the Apes, or whether it’s a full reboot or a separate standalone film.

The franchise kicked off with the 1968 sci-fi classic starring Charlton Heston and has since evolved, with the latest trilogy pulling in $1.68 billion at the worldwide box office.

The original franchise was based on a French novel by Pierre Boulle and ultimately spawned five films. Tim Burton then rebooted the original in 2001 with star Mark Wahlberg, and the most recent trilogy featuring Andy Serkis as a motion-capture ape began in 2011.

Ball is the director of all three The Maze Runner movies, including most recently Maze Runner: The Death Cure in 2018. He was originally attached to direct The Mouse Guard at Fox, but the project disappeared from Disney’s slate following its acquisition of Fox.

Ball is also a producer on the Disney+ series The Night Market along with his producer at Oddball Entertainment Joe Hartwick Jr.
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