Planet of the Apes 4: Disney to reboot franchise with new film, say reports

Andy Serkis as Caesar in 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'. He used motion capture to create the animal on screen (20th Century Fox): 20th Century Fox
Andy Serkis as Caesar in 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'. He used motion capture to create the animal on screen (20th Century Fox): 20th Century Fox

Fans of the Planet of the Apes franchise are not happy with reports that a new Apes film will be a complete reboot.

In 2019, Disney – who acquired the 20th Century Fox series – announced it would make another film following the success of the trilogy, which was rebooted with Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and culminated with War for the Planet of the Apes in 2017.

According to Discussing Film, sources are saying that the new film, directed by Wes Ball, will not continue the story of those films. Instead, it’s expected to be a full-blown reboot that ignores the acclaimed trilogy.

Fans of the films have been expressing their outrage over the reports on Twitter.

“That’s so unnecessary... have movies seriously ran out of ideas?” one wrote, with another adding: “Oh wow so orginal and creative NOT.”

Another hailed the previous three films as “amazing” and willed Disney to leave the franchise alone for the time being.

“Don’t reboot this franchise again! Especially not this soon! War for the Planet of the Apes was the perfect ending and it was released almost three years ago!”

Other franchises Disney now own following its acquisiton of 20th Century Fox include Alien, Avatar and The Maze Runner.