Wes Ball, who directed the Maze Runner trilogy and was poised the helm the now-canceled Mouse Guard adaptation, has been tapped by Disney to spearhead a new Planet of the Apes film.
According to THR, it's not entirely clear if the new film is meant to reboot the previous trilogy, which culminated with 2017's War for the Planet of the Apes, or if it will simply be a continuation of it. However, it's notable nonetheless for being perhaps the biggest Fox property to be retooled by Disney since the latter acquired the former in March.
Of course, this news should hardly come as a surprise. In August, following posting a $170 million operating loss in its fiscal third quarter, Disney revealed its plans to take its newly acquired Fox assets, including Planet of the Apes, "in a new direction, with an all-new development slate that will focus on a select group of properties."
The Planet of the Apes franchise began in 1963 with the French novel La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle. Five years later, the novel was adapted to film for the first time and spawned four sequels. Following the release of the fifth film in 1973, a live-action TV series hit the air in '74 and an animated series in '75. Then, in 2001, the original 1968 film was remade by Tim Burton and in 2011, the most recent film series kicked off with Rise of the Planet of the Apes.