Planet of the Apes Sequel Lets In Cloverfield Director Matt Reeves

by Rich Handley

If you're like me, you were heavily bummed by the news that Rupert Wyatt, who did such a brilliant job directing Rise of the Planet of the Apes, will not return for the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, coming in 2014. Despite a few plot holes and inconsistent acting, Rise, in my opinion, shot up the ladder to become one of the best films in the series. I was blown away by Andy Serkis' performance as Caesar, as well as Wyatt's approach to the touching screenplay by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, and was very much looking forward to seeing what this team would do next.

Without Wyatt aboard, I dreaded the inevitable changes the next film might bring. Would the story flow smoothly from one chapter to the next? Would the two films' directorial styles clash? Would continuity become a mess, as it sometimes was for the original Apes films?

Caesar is home. But is he still in good hands?

The latest news, however, may help to alleviate concerns. According to Entertainment Weekly and other sites, Matt Reaves is the likely candidate to take over the reins from Wyatt. Who's Matt Reaves? Well, he may not yet be a household name, but he does have an impressive list of writing and directing credits under his belt, including Felicity, Cloverfield and Let Me In. Does he have what it takes to tackle such a long-standing, much-beloved franchise as Planet of the Apes? Is he a worthy successor to Rupert Wyatt?

Does this scene from Cloverfield portend what

Planet of the Apes fans can look forward to?

Obviously, it's too soon to say. But consider this: Dawn will, by definition, need to be darker than Rise, given the impending fall of mankind due to the spread of Will Rodman's virus. As the director of Cloverfield, Reaves has experience with darker material revolving around man's potential demise—and, as with Planet of the Apes, Cloverfield featured the Statue of Liberty in ruins. More significantly, the well-received Let Me In was set during the era of the Bubonic Plague, involving a friendship between a human and a non-human.

Sound familiar?

Color me cautiously optimistic.

Me.