As we previously reported, the gig for director’s job on the gestating “Planet Of The Apes” prequel has been bouncing around Hollywood like a latchkey kid. The list of directors who’ve passed on the gig is pretty remarkable, but thankfully Kathryn Bigelow, Robert Rodriguez and Tomas Alfredson all showed some common sense. After those helmers turned the project down, it was reported that the script, by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver and reworked by Jamie Moss, then went out to The Hughes Brothers, Pierre Morel, James McTeigue, Dennis Illiadis (“Last House On The Left”) and Scott Stewart (“Legion”).
Well, it appears they all found better things to do as Deadline New York reports that Rupert Wyatt is in the “pole position” for the gig. Who? Wyatt is a Brit writer and director who has earned some cred for his buzzed about Brian Cox prison escape flick “The Escapist.” He will still be working off the Jaffa/Silver/Moss script, and though word on production or cast is not yet known, with a director now on board, we’re guessing those pieces will start being filled in.
Fox were probably able to nab Wyatt for a song, and the director is undoubtedly using the project as a foothold into Hollywood filmmaking. On top of having no interest in this, we’re still recovering from Tim Burton’s attempted franchise relaunch from 2001.