1.) We sent an email to Fox last night to confirm and have yet to hear back, but as of now it looks like Rupert Wyatt is out as director of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Wyatt signed on for the sequel after finding success with the franchise reboot Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but it turns out he didn’t feel comfortable with meeting Fox’s announced May 23, 2014 release date. It’s similar to the situation with Hunger Games director Gary Ross, who didn’t return for Catching Fire because of the quick turnaround between films.
I’m sure Fox will name a replacement director rather quickly, while Wyatt could potentially move to Agent 13, the sci-fi project with Charlize Theron attached to star. It was picked up by Universal back in the spring. Wyatt was also at one time attached to direct Londongrad, with Michael Fassbender starring as former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko, who was mysteriously poisoned to death in 2006. Wyatt left that project last year when Fox pulled him back in for the Apes sequel and it has since stalled in his absence. Who knows? Maybe he could return to that film if it’s something he’s passionate about. [Deadline]
2.) Sony is developing a live-action/CG hybrid take on Manimal, the failed ’80s TV show about a man who morphs into animals to helps the police fight crime. The studio seems to be hitting the ’80s well hard of late, with a live-action/CG version of ALF also in the works. [THR]
3.) Philip Seymour Hoffman will direct the period ghost story Ezekiel Moss for Mandalay Pictures, marking his second directorial effort. He previously helmed (and starred in) the indie dramedy Jack Goes Boating. Hoffman did mention at a Chicago Q & A I attended for Jack Goes Boating that he’d like to focus entirely on directing when he makes his follow-up, so I’d be surprised to see him take an on-screen role with this one. Ezekiel Moss is described as a depression era ghost story about a young, imaginative boy living in a small dead end town who befriends a mysterious drifter who may or may not have the supernatural ability to communicate with the dead. Mandalay Pictures’ Cathy Schulman calls it a “captivating and gothic exploration of faith and the supernatural.”
4.) While I haven’t yet found the time to see it, buzz is surprisingly strong on Nicholas Jarecki‘s Arbitrage. The financial thriller stars Richard Gere and scored an impressive $1.9 million opening from just 197 theaters this past weekend, while also debuting On Demand. Sure, those aren’t exactly The Master numbers, but as you might have heard, not many are. And now, Jarecki has already started talking about his follow-up.
“It’s a detective story set in Los Angeles that deals with a young man who’s a surveillance expert, who gets involved in a conspiracy involving electric cars, and it’s got a romance story in it, and it owes a debt to Chinatown,” he said. He also cited Francis Ford Coppola‘s The Conversation as an obvious influence, adding that he’s hoping to spend the rest of this year finishing the script so he can start production some time next year. [The Playlist]
5.) If you thought the dismal box-office performance of The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day was enough to save us from future Boondock Saints films, think again. Norman Reedus, who plays Murphy in the vigilante franchise, insists a third film is still happening after telling IFC of an LA rendezvous with co-star Sean Patrick Flanery and writer/director Troy Duffy. “I just landed a couple hours ago and tonight I’m going over to Troy’s house with Sean. It’s definitely in the works.”
