New Planet of the Apes Movie Reportedly Searching for Its Star

Development on the next Planet of the Apes movie is still simmering away as the nascent production seeks a lead actor, according to Variety writer Justin Kroll. The film is set to be directed by Wes Ball, who recently vacated his position as the director of Harbinger to make it happen. Paul Downs Colaizzo (Brittany Runs a Marathon) is expected to take over that movie. According to Kroll, the studio is high on a script they recently received for Apes, and after months of no news, it seems they are keen to get the movie into motion sooner than later.

This will be the first Apes movie since the departure of Matt Reeves, who is now working on sequels and spinoffs to his film The Batman for Warner Bros. The Planet of the Apes franchise, meanwhile, is headed to Marvel Comics, where new adventures will hit the printed page next year before they can make their way to the silver screen.

You can see Kroll’s comments below.

On the Ball front, sources say 20th and Disney were very high on the script that came in last month and are now set to find the star of the film that will hopefully lead future installments of new trilogy of films

— Justin Kroll (@krolljvar) June 21, 2022

“We’re thrilled to welcome Planet of the Apes back to the House of Ideas!” Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski said last week. “The new saga in the pipeline is going explore the limits of what this beloved franchise has to offer through bold comics storytelling, and we look forward to setting foot on this new adventure!”

Recent Planet of the Apes comics have been released by Boom! Studios who, among other things, crossed the property over with DC Comics characters and released a graphic novel based on Rod Serling’s first draft of the original Planet of the Apes script.

At one point earlier this year, reports emerged that the next installment in the decades-old franchise might actually be filming this summer, but with a new director, no star, and few updates in the last 3 months, that seems incredibly unlikely.

The Planet of the Apes franchise has long been a crown-jewel of the 20th Century collection with the most recent trilogy of movies arriving prior to the studio being absorbed by The Walt Disney Company. Ball’s movie marks the first foray back into the series with Disney backing them, and though specific details about what the new movie will contain haven’t been revealed, it does appear it will still be in canon with the most recent series of movies.