Those damn, dirty apes can’t be stopped and they’re set to return to the big screen in their Earth-conquering glory on May 23rd, 2014. After the shocking financial success of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Fox didn’t hesitate for a moment in announcing the sequel and now in addition to a release date, we’ve also got a title.
For those worried the sequel title wouldn’t contain enough occurrences of the words “of” and “the”, you can rest easy as Box Office Mojo has updated their release schedule with a slot for: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Along with Fox’s announcement of a follow-up to the original story for the 1968 Charleston Heston classic, they re-signed director Rupert Wyatt as well as Andy Serkis to reprise his mo-cap role as head ape Caesar. It has not yet been confirmed if James Franco or Frieda Pinto will rejoin, or if the sequel will center on new human characters all together. Contagion writer Scott Z. Burns is also being brought on board to map out a story.
I thought Rise of the Planet of Apes was one of the best movies of 2011 and by far the most surprising in terms of expected quality (due in no small part to Serkis’ impressive performance). I still don’t see what the problem is with simply naming the films “Rise of the Apes” and “Dawn of the Apes” but I guess Fox thinks audiences are stupid and won’t see the connection to a 50-year-old property.
Over-used articles and prepositions aside, I greatly look forward to this sequel and all its director and lead have to bring to the follow-up.