Considering how I grew up captivated by the original series, I was very nervous about RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. As, to be fair, many people were. But then star Andy Serkis, director Rupert Wyatt, and the artists at Weta delivered in a bloody big way and actually ended up crafting one of 2011’s best films. Not to mention making a movie that grossed over $481 million worldwide with a budget of only $93 million. So that’s cool too.
A sequel was of course always inevitable, but now the word from Fox is official: at CinemaCon, Fox Co-Chairman Tom Rothman included mention of the sequel “as part of a list of movies Fox plans to start production on by summer’s end.”
While there’s no official word on how that plan will jive with Andy Serkis’ duties on THE HOBBIT as Second Unit Director, Serkis is “already signed on for the sequel.”
You can bet we’ll be keeping a close eye on this project as it develops. And if things are going to work out for that end-of-summer start date, you can also bet it will be developing very quickly.