Word has it Tron Legacy co-writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz are already working on another glossy sequel to this year’s out-of-the-blue sequel to the computer-based 1982 original film Tron, eight months before Legacy hits theaters on December 17, 2010. Not being much of a fan of the original film (which I only watched for the first time last year and assume it’s a film you either saw when it was released or missed the boat completely) I can still see Legacy going well based solely on its slick graphics and “cool” factor. To that point I can also see a sequel taking off into what many expect will be a trilogy of films. However, this news of another Planet of the Apes film has me thinking the complete opposite.
Production Weekly is saying Caesar: Rise of the Apes will begin shooting in mid-July after setting up production offices at Mammoth Studios in Burnaby, BC. So far, all that’s been talked of this project as of late was the attachment of Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist) to direct the feature based on a script by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver.
Back in 2008 Lookout helmer Scott Frank was aboard to direct the prequel/reboot said to explore the origins of how the Apes took over Earth focusing on Caesar, a hyper-intelligent chimp raised by humans who incites a worldwide ape revolution and causes the downfall of mankind. Only a few days later it was more-or-less confirmed Frank was aboard and re-writing the script by Jaffa and Silver at which time the film actually sounded promising.
Over the next year or so the production was occasionally discussed, but for the most part thought to be dead in the water, and probably for the best. As easy as it seems it will be for Disney to get today’s audiences interested in a new Tron 28 years after the first one thanks to its flashy, CG-driven, 3D graphics it seems just as unlikely they will be interested in a film about monkeys taking over the world, especially following Tim Burton’s failed remake in 2001. I don’t think you could even show today’s audiences the original 1968 Planet of the Apes and get most of them to sit through the whole thing if it was their first time seeing it. Personally I am a fan of the original, a big one in fact, but I just can’t see it catching on.
