It's not a remake. It's a reboot. Or a revamp. Or a reinvention.
Though I'm typically upbeat about anything bearing Scott Frank's name, I must admit that I'm a little heartbroken to learn that his CAESAR won't be a redo of J. Lee Thompson's delightful CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Why? Well, on the bad idea scale, redoing CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES completely out of the fucking blue ranks pretty close to greenlighting THE HAPPENING. And I could do with another HAPPENING for reasons that include "zookeeper", "lemon drink" and "you're at the place where the killers meet to decide what to do with the crippled girl".
But since Frank's involvement pretty much precludes the possibility of a full-scale cinematic catastrophe, it's probably best for all involved if he presses forward with a smart, hard sci-fi re-whatever of the PLANET OF THE APES franchise. I just hope Fox (i.e. Tom Rothman) doesn't interfere with him every step of the way. So far, Frank sounds pretty happy.
For more on CAESAR, the un-CONQUEST-OF-THE-PLANET-OF-THE-APES, read Devin Faraci's exclusive interview w/ Frank over at CHUD.
