Disney interested in Fox’s Planet of the Apes and The Fly properties

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

The Mouse will soon take control of the Fox, and when they do they're interested in working with Apes and a Fly. This isn't a twisted nature show we're talking about here, this concerns the inner workings of Hollywood studios.

Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox is supposed to be finalized this month, and Moviehole hears that when Disney gets access to Fox properties a continuation of the PLANET OF THE APES franchise and a new remake of THE FLY are two of the projects they're most interested in pursuing.

The studio being interested in PLANET OF THE APES makes sense, that seems like a fitting pairing and Disney has had a lot of success with talking animals over the decades. Moviehole says, 

Matt Reeves recently concluded his ”Planet of the Apes” franchise at Fox– with the bravura “War of the Planet of the Apes” – so Disney have a clean slate when it comes to a legendary franchise initiated by Franklin J. Schaffner in 1968. Have heard they’re quite keen to do another “Planet of the Apes” but whether that’s a remake or even a sequel to “War”, who knows? Guess they’ll shuffle in a horde of writers to pitch their different ideas and go from there.

It's more surprising that Disney is interested in the remake of the genre classic THE FLY that director J.D. Dillard was hired to do a couple years ago, but it's certainly a project I would like to see get made. Moviehole's take: 

Fox have been trying to get a new “Fly” off the ground for years – and J.D. Dillard and Alex Theurer “wrote a cool script”, we’re told – and Disney will continue developing. Such an awesome template to work on. How can Disney release horror and edgy adult fare like this? It’s called offshoot labels, folks – remember the Touchstone banner that Disney used to release adult fare like “Starship Troopers” and “Shoot to Kill” in the ‘80s and ‘90s?

Dillard spoke about THE FLY with our own Eric Walkuski back when he had just signed on to do it. That interview can be read HERE.

If THE FLY and/or a new PLANET OF THE APES do start moving forward once Disney is in control of Fox, we'll keep you updated on them.