Fantastic Four: First Steps director is tackling new Planet of the Apes movie

20th Century Studios has turned their head to Matt Shakman to spearhead their next Planet of the Apes film. That said, this project is not a sequel film to the 2024 Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, instead, it’s totally separate. While a sequel was in the talking stage, it’s unclear where things have gone since.

It was discovered that Shakman who’s fresh of the heels of last year’s Pedro Pascal-starring superhero flick, Fantastic Four: First Steps. Besides him, the film is set to be written by Josh Friedman who not only co-wrote First Steps, but also inked the words for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver are also back on the producer train. They also have Scott Aversano on retainer for 20th Century’s part.

It’s odd that 20th Century isn’t opting to continue the Kingdom line considering the last film saw general success, but we suppose they must want a fresher take on the idea and trust Shakman to make that happen alongside Friedman, who has had a storied history with the production company working on the past two Avatar films.