Planet of the Apes prequel Rise of the Apes coming to theaters next year

Scene from the 1968 Franklin J. Schaffner original Planet of the Apes
Scene from the 1968 Franklin J. Schaffner original Planet of the Apes

Fox will release a prequel to Tim Burton’s 2001 remake for Planet of the Apes, titled Rise of the Apes on June 24, 2011.

Rupert Wyatt – who directed the gritty cult thriller The Escapist – has been tapped to direct Rise of the Apes, which presumably centers on the events leading up to the primate takeover of planet earth, and astronaut Mark Wahlberg’s time-shifted insertion into things.

Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa screenplay for Rise of the Apes.

SlashFilm has posted an official plot synopsis from Fox:

Rise of the Apes (tentative title) is an origin story in the truest sense of the term. Set in present day San Francisco, the film is a reality-based cautionary tale, a science fiction/science fact blend, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.