‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ Sequel Shooting This Summer

It's hard to keep track of all the great stories coming out of CinemaCon this week, but one of the coolest is the news that 20th Century Fox is gearing up for a sequel to 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes.' One of last year's most pleasant surprises, the film was both a critical and commercial success, and Fox is saying that they want to start shooting this summer.

Though we've heard little of casting or crew news, this must mean that a script is ready or nearly there. Surely Andy Serkis and James Franco were both signed up for sequel options, which the studio will surely use - well, at least with Serkis. The big question then would be if Rupert Wyatt would be returning, but as we recently noted, he's got another project that seems to be going forward at Universal.

Then again, this is Fox. And though they've gotten a lot better at producing fan-favorites (witness last year when 'Rise' and 'X-Men: First Class' delivered), they did hire Brett Ratner to direct 'X-Men 3'. Hopefully they'll come up with a good title, and not just add a '2'

For fans of the 'Apes' series, the prequel was a pleasant surprise that managed to not only be entertaining, but not upset the chronology of the original stories. Where the sequel fits in is anyone's guess, but we'll definitely be following this one closely. And we first heard this from Coming Soon.