{"id":627599,"date":"2026-05-06T21:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T21:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/627599\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T21:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T21:30:08","slug":"fantastic-four-director-to-helm-new-planet-of-the-apes-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/627599\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Fantastic Four’ Director To Helm New ‘Planet of the Apes’ Movie"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEXCLUSIVE: After helping relaunch Marvel\u2019s Fantastic Four franchise with Fantastic Four: First Steps, director Matt Shakman<\/a> and writer Josh Friedman<\/a> are getting a shot at another high-profile IP. Sources tell Deadline that Shakman is set to direct an untitled Planet of the Apes<\/a> movie at 20th Century. with Friedman penning the script. Shakman will also produce along with longtime Apes producers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver.<\/p>\n

\n\tPlot details are being kept under wraps other than the film will mark a return to the planet where apes are the superior species ruling all. While not confirmed, sources tell Deadline that this will not be a continuation of the most recent pic, 2024\u2019s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, but a new original story that Shakman and Friedman are developing. Friedman also penned that script along with Silver and Jaffa.<\/p>\n

\n\tPlanet of the Apes\u00a0is one of 20th Century Studios\u2019 most popular and enduring franchises, amassing more than $1.7 billion in\u00a0worldwide box office. Based on a novel by Pierre Boulle, the first film in the series was released by then-20th Century Fox in 1968 and went on to become one of the year\u2019s biggest hits, winning a special Academy Award. It was followed by four theatrical sequels and two TV series. A remake,\u00a0Planet of the Apes, directed by Tim Burton, was released in 2001, and the 2011 reboot\u00a0Rise of the Planet of the Apes\u00a0was followed by two sequels, 2014\u2019s\u00a0Dawn of the Planet of the Apes\u00a0and 2017\u2019s\u00a0War for the Planet of the Apes.<\/p>\n

\n\tKingdom of the Planet of the Apes was directed by Wes Ball and was well received by critics and audiences; the film brought in $397 million at the global box office.<\/p>\n

\n\tShakman has become a fan favorite at Disney earning an Emmy nomination for directing the Marvel Studios series WandaVision. His work on that show ultimately helped him land the Fantastic Four directing job. The film bowed last summer, bringing in $521 million at the global box office.<\/p>\n

\n\tHis recent work includes helming pilots for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,\u00a0The Consultant and\u00a0Welcome to Chippendales.\u00a0Shakman\u00a0also helmed the pilot episode for\u00a0The\u00a0Great\u00a0starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult. Up next\u00a0he will helm the pilot and finale for\u00a0Wild Things\u00a0starring Jude Law and Andrew Garfield.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBesides Fantastic Four: First Steps, Friedman co-wrote the global blockbusters\u00a0Avatar: The Way of Water\u00a0and\u00a0Avatar: Fire and Ash, and Kingdom of the Planet of the\u00a0Apes all\u00a0for 20th\u00a0Century Studios.<\/p>\n

\n\tShakman is represented by Untitled Entertainment and CAA. Friedman is represented by UTA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: After helping relaunch Marvel\u2019s Fantastic Four franchise with Fantastic Four: First Steps, director Matt Shakman and writer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[88,271481,24784,206,271482,4861],"class_list":["post-627599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-josh-friedman","tag-matt-shakman","tag-movies","tag-planet-of-the-apes","tag-the-fantastic-four-first-steps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}