Matt Shakman is set to direct a new untitled Planet of the Apes movie at 20th Century, steering the long-running franchise away from a straight sequel path. Josh Friedman is writing the script, and Shakman will also produce the film with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver.
Sources told Deadline the project will not continue 2024's Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, but instead will be a new original story developed by Shakman and Friedman. That gives 20th Century another swing at one of its most durable properties, which has grossed more than $1.7 billion worldwide since the first film opened in 1968 and won a special Academy Award.
The move comes after Shakman helped guide Marvel's Fantastic Four: First Steps, which brought in $521 million globally, and after a stretch of television work that included an Emmy nomination for WandaVision. He has recently directed pilots for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, The Consultant and Welcome to Chippendales, and also helmed the pilot for The Great.
The franchise has repeatedly been reset for a new generation. After the original 1968 film came four theatrical sequels, two TV series, a 2001 remake, and the reboot run that began with Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011, continued with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in 2014 and War for the Planet of the Apes in 2017. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes arrived in 2024 and took in $397 million worldwide, enough to keep the series commercially alive but not so definitively that the studio was locked into one path.
That is the tension at the center of the new assignment. 20th Century is not simply extending the last film's story; it is betting that matt shakman and Friedman can build something fresh inside a brand that has already been remade, rebooted and reimagined for more than half a century. If the film works, it will show the studio still sees room to expand a franchise that has survived every version Hollywood has tried on it.
