Steve Asbell, president of 20th Century Studios, revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that the company is expecting a draft script for a fourth installment in the popular reboot of The Planet of the Apes franchise sometime very soon. “We are expecting a draft very shortly, and it’s Wes Ball attached to direct. We hope to go by the late summer, early fall,” Asbell told the interviewer when asked what was new with the series.
Fans have been speculating on the future of the franchise ever since 2017, when the last installment, War for the Planet of the Apes, helmed by The Batman director Matt Reeves, hit the big screen. When Disney purchased most of Fox’s media assets in 2019, one of the many franchises that became available to it was the Apes series.
However, aside from tapping The Maze Runner director Ball to develop the project, little is known what shape or form a new Planet of the Apes movie will take. Will it be a continuation of the events set up in the Reeves-directed vehicles? Would fan-favorite Caesar still be the principal character, and would Andy Serkis return to play the role? Or would the project wipe the slate clean and reboot the project entirely? If rebooted, it would be the third project to attempt a new take on the franchise since the original Planet of the Apes debuted in 1968.
The initial series produced four sequels, as well as a brief-lived television series and an animated series. After a lengthy span of time in “development hell,” Fox rebooted the series for the first time in 2001, with director Tim Burton at the helm. The film contained numerous elements of 1968 original, but despite a decent performance at the box office, neither director nor studio warmed to the idea of a sequel.
The rebooted series, including Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War for the Planet of the Apes, performed well at the box office. Most fans expected another sequel on the heels of War, before the Disney acquisition raised a cloud of dust that has yet to settle.
Ball, for his part, has asserted that the new film will not be a straight-up reboot, and may not hew as closely to the reboot series material as fans might hope. “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.” Ball told Discussing Film in a 2020 interview. “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.”
Asbell’s statement at least assures fans that the project has not been shelved yet again, and that screenwriter Josh Friedman, known for his work Terminator: Dark Fate and the Snowpiercer television property will have a draft script in studio hands within a short timeframe.