It seemed that after 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,' the sequel to the James Franco-starring 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes,' set a release date for May 23, 2014, the entire production fell into a short bit of chaos. Rupert Wyatt, who was originally pegged to direct the film, gave up the gig presumably in favor of 'Agent 13,' starring Charlize Theron. Thankfully, 20th Century Fox built up a shortlist of directors, and they've finally selected 'Cloverfield' helmer Matt Reeves to step in.

This news doesn't come as that big of a shock. Although Guillermo del Toro ('Pacific Rim'), Rian Johnson ('Looper'), J. Blakeson ('The Disappearance Of Alice Creed'), Juan Carlos Fresnadillo ('28 Weeks Later'), Jeff Nichols ('Take Shelter') and Juan Antonio Bayona ('The Impossible') were all being considered for the part, Deadline reports that Reeves was already ahead of the pack to begin with. On top of that, he recently left his position as director for the 'Twilight Zone' movie to sign an overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV, which put him in a perfect position for this new gig.

Some of Reeves's other notable works include 'Let Me In' and the 'Felicity' series. Plus, he's set to direct the upcoming 'Cloverfield' sequel, which is still untitled. Writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver have already finished work on the 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' script and, as previously stated, the project is aiming for a May 23, 2014 release.

What do you think? Will this new gig work out in Reeves' favor, as opposed to the 'Twilight Zone' movie? Sound off in the comments!

More From ScreenCrush