Caesar's back with a new writer

During CinemaCon, 20th Century Fox revealed that the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes would be working its way into production soon. However, exactly when we’ll be seeing the refreshed series back on the big screen remains to be seen. With screenwriters Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa at work on the script, everything seems to be headed into the right direction. Now, the studio has hired yet another head which may delay the sequel just a bit longer.

THR reports that Scott Z. Burns (Contagion) has been hired by 20th Century Fox to tackle the follow-up, though it’s unknown to what capacity. It sounds like Burns is simply reworking some of Jaffa and Silver’s current draft, but he could also be writing his own version of the script as well.

The report claims that “the new project is taking the story to the next level, with the apes on the path to emerge as society’s new rulers”. With Burns’ very detailed work on viruses concerning Contagion, it should be noted that he could be delivering the same kind of writing here as well. Risecemented at the very end that the virus capable of killing humans has begun to spread worldwide, and the sequel could very much pick up with significant death tolls to the human population, which again Burns is no stranger to.

Andy Serkis is returning as the motion capture lead primate Caesar, while director Rupert Wyatt will be reprising his duties as director also. No production start is yet set for the second film, especially considering that Serkis has work in New Zealand on the second of The Hobbit films. After the large project is out of the way, it’s likely Fox will be aiming to start production, with a release possible for Summer 2014 or earlier.