Aside from helping out on The Bourne Ultimatum, the one name synonymous with writer Scott Z. Burns is Steven Soderbergh. He wrote the director’s severely overlooked dramedy The Informant!, as well as last year’s Contagion. The screenwriter is also behind The Bitter Pill, which is currently shooting, along with the previous potential Soderbergh project The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. According to a new report from THR, the writer is getting back into the franchise business for his latest project.
20th Century Fox has hired Scott Z. Burns to write their sequel to last year’s surprise hit Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Rupert Wyatt is looking to return as director and original writers Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa first took a stab at a draft. Details are of course sparse, but this one is said to show the apes as they take over control of society from humans.
Considering many have joked about that potential cross-over with Contagion (with a sequel to that one potentially on the way), Burns is pretty much a perfect fit for this material. Aided by Soderbergh’s knack for pacing, his workmanlike, detailed approach should also fit Wyatt quite well. Andy Serkis is set to return as the lead ape Caesar, but no word on other cast. I’d personally like a film that is 100% apes, but I can’t see the studio going that route.
The sequel is looking to swing into theaters during the summer of 2014.
Is Burns a good match for this material?