So what’s going on with the proposed Planet of the Apes sequel/prequel? 20th Century Fox has hired writer/director Scott Frank (The Lookout) to develop a new film based on the Planet of the Apes film property. At first it was rumored that the film would be a remake of Conquest of the Apes or a new film called Genesis: Apes, but according to Chud that is not the case.

The project is going under the working title “Caesar”. Fox’s Tom Rothman says that it is “a kind of prequel story before the first story, with a return to the social thematics that mark the first one, but with an entirely contemporary setting - Earth 2009.” The film won’t have talking monkeys and will not end with chimps taking over Earth. Instead the film will be a hard science fiction film about humans that use science to create hyper-intelligent chimpanzees.

I’m still not convinced that we need another Planet of the Apes reboot at this point. The general public is going to need more time to forget Tim Burton’s remake. And the original films still work.And lets face it, what’s the last good film project developed at Fox? But if you are going to reboot the Apes franchise at this point, Frank’s Caesar sounds like the best possible concept.