It has been five years since the last installment of the Planet of The Apes franchise debuted in cinemas, and for a long while, there has been little word on exactly what, if anything, is happening with the franchise. While discussing several 20th Century Studio updates with The Hollywood Reporter, studio president Steve Asbell touched on the franchise and revealed that Planet of the Apes 4 is expecting to get cameras rolling later this year under the direction of Wes Bell.

The Planet of The Apes franchise originally began way back in 1968, in an adaptation of the Pierre Boulle novel, which starred Charlton Heston and featured one of the most unexpected and iconic movie finales ever, as the story of an astronaut who crashes on a planet populated by walking, talking apes discovers that the planet is actually Earth. Following four sequels, the franchise was untouched for almost 30 years before Tim Burton took a crack at remaking the movie. Although the remake was a reasonable hit, the franchise once again fell silent for another decade before Rise of The Planet of The Apes debuted in 2011, kicking off a series of movies that pulled in certain aspects of the original movies but also created a history to the 1968 film.

Asbell mentioned in his interview that a fourth Planet of the Apes movie was still in the works, and that, of course, led to a question of what the status of the film is right now. In reply, Asbell said, “We are expecting a draft very shortly, and it’s Wes Ball attached to direct. We hope to go by the late summer, early fall.”

The Planet of The Apes Movies Seemed to Have Come to a Conclusion, But a Fourth Movie Could Finalize the Franchise

Rise of the Planet of the Apes was released in 2011 and told the story of how scientific dabbling led to the creation of a group of intelligent apes. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War for the Planet of the Apes followed in 2014 and 2017, respectively, and saw the timeline progressing into the future, when a fight for supremacy ends with the death of leader Caesar, but also brings into play his youngest son Cornelius, a name that also appears in the original series of movies as Dr. Cornelius who Charlton Heston’s character encounters. It seems likely that this is the same character, which adds weight to the movies acting as prequels as much as remakes.

The Batman director Matt Reeves directed the previous two entries in the franchise but is being replaced this time around by Wes Bell. Exactly how the new movie will tie to the previous ones or potentially the 1968 movie is something that is not known. Still, with five years having passed since the release of War for the Planet of the Apes, it is a question of whom, if any, cast members will be reprising their roles in the fourth installment. All will be revealed in time, but at least for now, it looks as though the film is certainly moving along in the right direction.