The Gotham Independent Film Awards took place yesterday and Fox Chairman and CEO of Filmed Entertainment Tom Rothman was in attendance to receive a career tribute award along with Charlize Theron, Gary Oldman, and David Cronenberg. While there Rothman was asked about potential sequels to Rise of the Planet of the Apes and X-Men: First Class, which have seen movement recently, and he said getting directors Rupert Wyatt and Matthew Vaughn back was a priority.
From Coming Soon:
Rothman confirmed to us that they plan on continuing on from both movies and they’re going to try to get both Rupert Wyatt and Matthew Vaughn back to direct once they get the scripts together. “Both of them were really great scripts and so we have to be sure to get great scripts again,” Rothman said. “We’re working hard on the scripts for both of them, but we have every hope of moving forward with them.”
The CEO also confirmed to THR that the studio will be pushing Andy Serkis for some awards recognition over the upcoming months for his role as Caesar.
“I think we may be at the place where we will see a first-ever in Hollywood this year, which is to see Andy Serkis get nominated for a best supporting actor for Planet of the Apes, even though his face never actually appears. But his performance appears, so we are going to push that hard.”
“The emotionality – what you see and what you feel – he did it. I saw him. I watched him. Then they digitally overlaid – you can think of it as a costume – the skin and the hair of an ape. But I tell you the thing that people felt – and a lot of people where moved when they saw the movie – is because of his performance.”
20th Century Fox haven’t exactly been consistent with their handling of the X-Men and Planet of the Apes franchises, but despite slightly rushed productions Fox have successfully breathed new life into both properties. The involvement of Rupert Wyatt and Matthew Vaughn was a large part of why both movies were great, so getting them back will be key.
Reports suggest Wyatt is already locked following the deal he made for the first Apes film, and screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver have signed to return, so it’ll just be a case of getting the script together. As far as we know Vaughn has no deal to return for an X-Men sequel, but James McAvoy recently said Vaughn was pitching ideas to Fox, so it looks promising.
