And it seems that producers Chernin Entertainment are intent on building on the foundations set out in last year’s hit, rather than picking at the bones of the original franchise, with the news Scott Z Burns, writer of Steven Soderbergh’s all-star virus thriller Contagion, has been hired to have a crack at the latest version of the script.
While a draft for the sequel has been penned by original writers Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa, Burns’ involvement is welcome news considering his ability to craft an adept portrayal of the downfall of society. While details are scant, what we do know is it will continue the plot kicked off at the end of Rise, (SPOILER ALERT if you haven’t seen the first instalment) with the outbreak of a virus that causes the collapse of human society and the intelligent apes cementing their position of the new rulers of Earth. (And may I be the first to welcome our new simian overlords.)
As well as his work on Contagion, Burns also wrote The Informant!, worked on The Bourne Ultimatum and was a producer on the Oscar-winning global-warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth.
After the success of the first film Fox signed up motion capture doyen Andy Serkis, who played Caesar, the lead ape, and director Rupert Wyatt is also set to return.
Source: THR
