It’s a big day for Planet of the Apes, with Steve Asbell, President of 20th Century Studios confirming that a new instalment to the science fiction franchise would be coming in 2023 or 2024 — with a first draft of the script being expected “very shortly.”
The upcoming action movie, which will be the tenth Planet of the Apes movie overall and the fourth in the latest reboot series, was first hinted at in 2019 by Disney when they announced their acquisition of 20th Century Fox. Wes Ball, who is known for directing adventure movies like Maze Runner, was then announced as writer and director of the sequel in February 2020, with Joe Hartwick Jr. and David Starke serving as producers.
In a May 2020 interview with Discussing Film, Ball confirmed that the monster movie would not be another reboot, but a direct continuation of War of the Planet of the Apes, which was directed by The Batman director Matt Reeves. Ball didn’t reveal much about the plot, but assured fans in the interview that the movie would continue to follow “Caesar’s legacy.”
With the pandemic complicating things slightly, subsequent updates about the movie had been scarce since, leading to concerns that we had lost another film to development hell.
Fortunately, Asbell has confirmed that the project is back on track, as he told the Hollywood Reporter that he is “expecting as draft” of the movie’s script from Ball “very soon,” with a view to begin production on the movie “by the late summer, early fall.”
While Asbell didn’t give a precise release date for the thriller movie, he did confirm that it was part of 20th Century Studios’ 2023 and 2024 film slate — so we won’t have to wait longer than a couple of years.