‘Planet Of The Apes’ Reboot: Director Wes Ball Reveals The Direction Of The Project

With Disney making a new Planet of the Apes reboot, filmmaker Wes Ball has disclosed the direction the new project will take.

Ball (known for directing The Maze Runner), was chosen to direct the reboot and has stated that while it will honor the original films, it will also chart its own course.

Speaking recently with Discussing Film, the director said:

What do you do for a Planet of the Apes sequel? One, those last three movies are one of the great trilogies we have in modern movie history. They are just so well done. They honored the original movies they sprang from, the Charlton Heston movies, but they grounded it in a modern sensibility and it just worked. Caesar is one of the great movie characters that we’ll have throughout time. So what do you do to follow that up, right? At the same time, I wasn’t interested in doing a part four either. We want to also do our own thing… They 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.”

Speaking further, he added:

I’ll say this, for fans of the original three don’t worry – you’re in good hands. The original writers and producers that came up with Rise and Dawn, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, they’re also on board with this. Josh Friedman is writing this thing, a lot of the same crew is kind of involved. We will feel like we’re part of that original trilogy, but at the same time we’re able to do some really cool new stuff. It will be really exciting to see on the biggest screen possible.

Ball also directed Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and the third film, Maze Runner: The Death Cure. He is also a visual effects artist and graphic artist.