‘Fantastic Four’ Director to Handle New ‘Planet of the Apes’

(Left) ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ director and executive producer Matt Shakman. Photo: Apple TV+. (Right) Noa (played by Owen Teague) and Dar (played by Sara Wiseman) in 20th Century Studios’ ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.’ Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2024 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Preview:

Director Matt Shakman is developing a new ‘Planet of the Apes’ movie.
Writer Josh Friedman is also aboard.
20th Century Studios is backing the movie.

Fresh off of helping bring the Fantastic Four properly into the MCU with ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’, director Matt Shakman is hopping across to another venerable franchise.

Deadline reports that he’ll handle a new, yet-to-be-titled ‘Planet of the Apes’ movie for Disney’s 20th Century Studios, working once more with ‘First Steps’ co-writer Josh Friedman.

For his part, Friedman also has form in the ‘Apes’ universe, since he also wrote the most recent entry, ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’.

What’s the story of the new ‘Planet of the Apes’ movie?

Noa (voiced by Owen Teague) in 20th Century Studios' 'Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes.' Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Here’s where it gets interesting: Deadline has heard that this new development is not connected to ‘Kingdom’ or any of the previous contemporary franchise entries that began with 2011’s ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’, but will still be set in the world of intelligent simians.

What else are Friedman and Shakman working on?

‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ director and executive producer Matt Shakman.

Friedman is also part of the writing team for James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ movies and adapted the ‘Foundation’ novels for Apple TV.

Shakman is a director in demand, having worked on various TV pilots. He’s currently shooting the pilot and finale for Apple’s ‘Wild Things’ (about Vegas entertainers Siegfried and Roy) starring Jude Law and Andrew Garfield.