Work is proceeding on Fox's Planet of the Apes prequel, titled Rise of the Apes. James Franco is in negotiations to star. Empire magazine reports, "Rupert Wyatt is directing Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa’s current draft
of the script, which follows human scientists performing genetic
experiments on apes in modern-day San Francisco. Naturally, things go
badly wrong and aggressive, intelligent simians are the result, which
sparks a conflict between the two species. One that will eventually
drive Charlton Heston to exclaim, “You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn
you! God damn you all to hell!†Contrary to early reports, this isn't a remake of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, but a whole new story that leads up to the simian take-over of earth. For more click here