That 'Shelved' PLANET OF THE APES/Caesar Project May Not Be So Dead After All...

Merrick here...
Over the weekend, New York Magazine's "Vulture" posted details on Scott Frank's CAESAR project. This was originally intended to reboot the PLANET OF THE APES franchise by more or less remaking the fourth film of the original cycle...CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES...which chronicled the Apes' brutal overthrow of humanity (details HERE). Recent reports said the film had been indefinitely shelved. THIS ARTICLE over at CHUD says Frank's Caesar was sidelined by Fox because the film was too dark and too expensive; if you're familiar with Fox's dubious decision making process, as well as the tone of the original CONQUEST, it's not difficult to imagine this being the case. What is surprising is that the project may not be so dead after all.

Production and agency insiders both confirm that Fox has hired writer Jamie Moss (Street Kings) to rework Frank's version, and the original writers, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (The Relic, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle), were recently brought back to polish the dialogue. Frank’s Apes script, code-named Caesar, showed how genetic experiments on apes led to their evolutionary eclipse of humans. "Caesar" refers to the genetically altered leader of the simian rebellion, so dubbed because the ape was capable of grand strategic thinking on par with Julius Caesar (whose own surname means "hairy" in Latin). The "Caesar" code name also foreshadowed the script's plot: Just as the actual Julius Caesar set Rome on the path to the Roman Empire, the experimental ape's escape sets in motion his fellow hirsute hominids' (wait for it ... ) guerrilla war and subsequent dominance.* The studio, however, wanted to pursue a different tack than Frank, and the writer-director was unwilling to change direction, according to a production source

...says Vulture HERE. The article also says that APES/Caesar has been handed over to former News Crop exec Peter Chernin, who is now a producer at Fox. As indicated before, I sure found Tim Burton's run at rebooting the franchise tedious and unimaginative - hopefully sharper sensibilities will prevail this time around. I know, I know...
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