Well, it’s finally official… apes will be coming back to the big screen in 2011. After years of rumours about a possible Planet of the Apes prequel in development, 20th Century Fox announced this week that they have set a June 24th, 2011 release date for the new film, which is tentatively titled Rise of the Apes. As previously announced, Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist) will direct from a script by Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa (The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, The Relic). No word on whether or not elements of rewrites by Jamie Moss (Street Kings) or Scott Frank (Minority Report) will also be used.

The interesting thing here is that for the first time, a Planet of the Apes movie will not use live actors in costume to play the apes themselves. Instead, the characters will be 100% CGI creations from WETA Digital. The movie will be an origin story for the race of intelligent apes, born out of experiments with genetic engineering and leading to a battle for supremacy with mankind. What do you think, will this be the summer blockbuster that Fox needs for next year? More importantly, can it erase the bad memories of Tim Burton’s 2001 remake?