Merrick here...
Fox is pulling RISE OF THE APES - essentially a reimagined "origin story" for its fabled PLANET OF THE APES pictures - from its previously scheduled November release date and is now installing it into a late Summer slot (August 5, to be exact).
In its new date, "Apes" will go up against three other wide releases, including Sony's toon hybrid "The Smurfs," Universal's Jason Bateman-Ryan Reynolds comedy "The Change-Up" and 3D sci-fi thriller "The Darkest Hour," from Summit.
...says THIS piece in Variety.
I love, love, love the original PLANET OF THE APES films (PLANET OF THE APES, BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES, ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES, CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES) and loathe, loathe, loathe Tim Burton's subsequent loud, heartless, over-produced reworking. That film didn't play well because it relied upon the gimmick of the PLANET OF THE APES films, while neither understanding or embracing the cultural subtexts and socio-political heart which drove them. PLANET OF THE APES without relevant societal observation is utterly laughable and completely pointless, and I truly hope the same mistakes won't be made in RISE. Although I suspect they will be, as precious few mainstream Science Fiction movies these days are bold enough to (or are allowed to) be about to be about anything meaningful (Neill Blomkamp being an apparent exception, with arguably Duncan Jones and very few others bringing up the rear).
If you like the original PLANET OF THE APES films, or even if you only find them "interesting", you might enjoy THIS book - PLANET OF THE APES REVISITED. It's thorough-but-breezy, and chronicles the pre-production, production, post-production, and release of all five films in the original APES movie series. The book reveals the original (and quite provocative and daring) concept for the final film in the series (BATTLE FOR...) - much of which wasn't advanced in the final product - and provides insight and anecdotes into the making of each film (loved the tales of James Fransiscus disapproving of the script for BENEATH so fervently that he and a writing partner re-worked the entire screenplay over a weekend; it's not clear how much of their material was ultimately adopted). It's a quick read and you'll learn a lot - check it out.
— follow Merrick on Twitter ! ---
