20th Eyes Remaking ‘Conquest of the Planet of the Apes’
CHUD reports that 20th-Century Fox has been quietly putting together a team to produce a remake of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. The original Conquest featured Roddy McDowell as Cesar the first ape to speak and is set chronologically prior to the original Planet. The 2001 remake from Tim Burton was a box office failure (any profits realized came from merchandise and home video).
This version is entitled Genesis: Apes and has been written by the team of Rick Jaffa (The Relic) and Amanda Silver (Eye for an Eye). While the 1973 original was set in the futuristic 1991, this will be a modern day affair.
CHUD writes, “In this version Caesar is the result of a genetic scientist fooling around with the nature of things. When the baby monkey exhibits intelligence and the ability to talk, he takes the cuddly thing home to his wife, who is unable to bear children. Things go surprisingly well for a number of years until Caesar grows up and sees mommy getting attacked. The dutiful son steps in and accidentally kills the attacker.
“Here’s where it takes off. In a scene paralleling Charlton Heston in the cage in the original Planet of the Apes, Caesar ends up in custody at an Ape Conservatory where he and the other apes are abused mercilessly. Caesar finds himself a primate without a world – he’s as smart as humans but will never be one of them (and is in fact tortured by them) and he’s initially rejected by his monkey brethren.”
This is the 40th anniversary of Planet of the Apes and 20th has celebrated with Planet of the Apes: 40 Year Evolution Blu-ray Collection, which hits stores tomorrow. The set includes all five Planet of the Apes films on Blu-ray for the first time, including Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape From the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (an unrated version with eight additional minutes of material), Battle for the Planet of the Apes, and the 1968 original Planet of the Apes.