"Planet of the Apes" Prequel in the Works?

Wow, talk about mining a movie franchise for all it’s worth. Last month, I heard that 20th Century Fox was working on a remake of “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes” called “Genesis: Apes.” The story is reportedly about Caesar, the first talking ape who started the whole apes-in-charge theme.

Now Fox is talking about a possible prequel, with more info in between showings of the “Planet of the Apes” movies on Fox Movie Channel this weekend.

“We are very close at Fox on a new Apes script,” said Fox’s Tom Rothman. “This one is a kind of prequel story before the first story, with a return to the social thematics that mark the first one, but with an entirely contemporary setting – Earth 2009.”

Hmmm … not sure what to think about this, but it kind of makes me want to watch the original “Apes” movies again and see what all the hoopla is about. Any thoughts on this? Has the franchise already been done to death?

Image: Planet of the Apes, 20th Century Fox, 1968