Sequels Likely for X-Men: First Class and Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Posted 11.30.11 by Ryan
As summers go, Twentieth Century Fox had a pretty good one, releasing two hit comic book movie prequels with X-Men: First Class, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. While Fox hasn't made an official announcement that either will get sequels, the profit margin has made such announcements unnecessary.
More movement has been made on Rise — the more profitable of the two movies at $480 million worldwide — with Fox already securing actor Andy Serkis to reprise his role (in motion-capture) as the lead ape Caesar in the sequel. The studio is also exercising sequel contract options on Rise co-producers and screenwriters Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa and director Rupert Wyatt. As a result, Wyatt was forced to drop out of the true-life drama Londongrad, which examines the mysterious death of former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko.
At this year's IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards, ComingSoon spoke to Fox Chairman and CEO Tom Rothman who unsurprisingly revealed that both Wyatt and First Class director Matthew Vaughn are part of Fox's plans for sequels. All the studio is waiting for are the scripts.
Both [Rise and First Class] were really great scripts and so we have to be sure to get great scripts again. We're working hard on the scripts for both of them, but we have every hope of moving forward with them.
First Class producer and X-Men: The Last Stand screenwriter Simon Kinberg is reportedly writing the sequel script, which has at least its main stars interested in returning. Michael Fassbender, who played Erik Lensherr, a.k.a. Magneto, recently revealed that he's "looking forward to working with all those people again," while James McAvoy recently noted that he is contractually bound to appear in a sequel, but admitted, "I would still like to." Once the script is written, we'll see if Vaughn is able to return as director.
As for Rise, it seems that a sequel was always in the minds of Wyatt and his screenwriters. In August, Wyatt admitted that he had several intriguing ideas for a sequel, while earlier this year, Jaffa told Collider about possible sequel plans during the site's set visit. "I hope that we’re building a platform for future films," the screenwriter. "We’re trying to plant a lot of the seeds for a lot of the things you are talking about in terms of the different apes and so forth."
One thing's for sure, it looks like a prequel is the best way to restart a franchise.