Matt Reeves Signs For Third PLANET OF THE APES Prequel

He may still be working to finish off Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes for this coming summer but what Matt Reeves has already done has given Twentieth Century Fox the impetus to sign the director on to head up the next installment of the studio’s prequel franchise.

Returning with Reeves will be Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes co-screenwriter Mark Bomback. Deadline is reporting that the third film is a priority for the studio and Reeves and Bomback will probably be diving right into work once everything with Dawn is finished off.

This is definitely a vote of confidence from the studio and one that makes me even more excited to see Dawn when it opens on July 11. However, my excitement is tempered by the fact that it appears that screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver are not returning for the new film. Jaffa and Silver were the ones who first interested Fox in relaunching the Apes franchise, pitching the studio the film that became 2011’s Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes. The writers planned the film to be the first in a trilogy, which they got to expand on by supplying the early drafts of the screenplay for Dawn. Granted, the pair are currently working with James Cameron on polishing the script for Avatar 3, but their lack of participation here is a bit of a buzzkill.