Rupert Wyatt No Longer Directing Rise of the Planet of the Apes Sequel?

Posted by on September 18th, 2012   Filed under: Action, Rumours, Sci-fi
Source: Deadline

After Rise of the Planet of the Apes revitalized the Apes franchise and somehow managed to become the 11th highest grossing movie of 2011, I don’t think anyone was surprised to hear Fox announce that they would be moving forward with a follow-up as soon as possible. They locked down Andy Serkis to reprise his role as Caesar and brought back original writers Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa to pen the script (with a little help from Contagion writer Scott Z. Burns). Director Rupert Wyatt was also contracted to return since his original deal included an option for a sequel, and with the original creative team in place, it seemed like there was a good chance that they could repeat the success of the previous film. Unfortunately, this week we are suddenly hearing that there might be some trouble brewing and that Rupert Wyatt is about to step down as director of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

According to Deadline, there are reports that Rupert Wyatt is either threatening to leave the project or already has, in fact, left. The reason for his departure is supposedly the same reason that Gary Ross decided to ditch The Hunger Games sequel earlier this year: he doesn’t think that the proposed May 2014 release date will give him enough time to make the movie he wants to make. Fox has not confirmed or denied this story as of yet, but they may be looking for a new director as we speak.

Although I fully expect fans to express outrage and disappointment with the studio for setting an unreasonable timeline, truth be told, May 2014 doesn’t seem all that tight to me. I mean, when the release date was first announced, it seemed to be a long way off, but given the extensive CG requirements of this franchise, it’s hard to say whether or not it is realistic. Rupert Wyatt wasn’t that well known when he did the first movie, having only made the prison thriller The Escapist, but at this point he has clearly proven himself. Do you think the loss of Rupert Wyatt would cripple this project or is there another director you’d like to see take over the Apes franchise?



  • Bob

    Could be bad news. He did a really nice job with the first one. Of course, someone else could take over and do something interesting with the next.

  • Maopheus

    These kinds of non-tent pole, sort of mid-level franchises, especially of the re-booted, re-imagined, re-vitalized ilk, need to rely on a good filmmaker to be successful. Because otherwise, they just tend to become so watered down, or overproduced, or killed by too much studio involvement. I see this series going down that route. It’s not Fox’s biggest property, so they’re not going to invest as much money into it as they would Spiderman or X-Men. If there’s no main director or producer fighting for money, fighting for attention or for respect from the studio, it’s going to get killed.

  • cap

    They started filming ROTPOTA about a year before the premiere. Assuming similar schedule it would give them about 8 more months to prep the movie (with the script apparently already written). Doesn’t seem tight at all. What I don’t understand is how can Wyatt just decide to walk away when the studio is supposed to have an option to hire him again. Aren’t those type of contracts suppose to be binding?

  • Curtis Williams

    Bummer summer. Rise was one of my favorite films last year. I was really looking forward to what he could have done. Hopefully they’ll iron that shit out.

  • rjdelight

    @ cap

    I was wondering the same thing. If he signed a contract, you’d think they could force him to direct. But maybe they don’t want a director who doesn’t want to direct the movie, directing the movie. Then again, this if FOX. I remember reading reports/rumors that Wyatt wasn’t a big fan of having to deal with the crazy people who run FOX.

  • Gerry

    Since the film is a 2 hour version of the end credits sequence of ROTPOTA does it matter?

    The infected pilot will spread the virus, apes around the world will become intelligent and most of the humans will die, despite the best efforts of Scott Z Burns to make it look as if they might survive.

    The only remotely interesting possibility is that the missing astronauts will land Charlton Heston style, but I suspect this will happen in the third film.

  • scott

    The movie was great, but do we really need a sequel? Guy probably just wants to create something new.

    Scott
    http://www.ReconditePictures.com

  • cap

    @Gerry

    I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that that’s what the sequel will be. They just as well might start the movie after all of that already happened. Maybe that’s why Wyatt needs even more time, because there will be less scenes with humans and more scenes with apes (therefore more CGI).

  • Gerry

    @cap

    I think they should start the movie after that happened but the hiring of the Contagion writer suggests otherwise.

    Maybe that’s why Rupert is having second thoughts, i.e. it’ll be a fairly dull and unoriginal film.

  • cap

    I wouldn’t read too much into screenwriter hiring and how it relates to possible plot. He’s an established pro that’s written more then just Contagion.