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

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.