Of the many franchises plunged into limbo by Disney’s Fox buyout – yep, that story again – sci-fi’s favourite talking animals saga Planet of the Apes is high on the list of filmgoer concerns. It’s definitely fair to describe it as a talking animals saga. Not misleading in the slightest, right?
30 months on from the release of the last outing, 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes, there’s now a new movie in development, even if it doesn’t have a release date yet. And while details are still scarce on what to expect, we’re told that Mission: Impossible star Rebecca Ferguson is one name of several being eyed for the female lead. No word yet on what the role would be, but given that this intel comes to us from the same sources who said Han would return in Fast & Furious 9 and a Green Lantern show is coming to HBO Max, we’ve no reason to doubt it.
In any case, the actress would be the first female lead in the franchise’s 52-year film history. Given that the project still appears to be some way from production, it might be a while longer before we learn more about who Ferguson would play if cast, but she’d certainly make a nice addition to the pic.
If you want some even more completely, very definitely, absolutely serious speculation in the meantime, Tim Burton hasn’t got any projects in the pipeline, so perhaps we could be getting the 2001 Burton remake sequel we always wanted? What do you mean that thought gives you nightmares? Fine, I’m just joking. You can rest easy.
Disney’s Planet of the Apes project already has a director signed on – Maze Runner helmer Wes Ball. If the Ball-Ferguson axis falls through though, you can always turn to Burton-Wahlberg to stick the landing. I see no flaws with that plan. Their movie was an under-appreciated masterpiece of modern cinematic expressionism. If the expression was horror in the face of the void, that is.
