The new Planet of the Apes movie may already be in trouble, according to a UK crew report.
Filmbase, a UK site that runs job alerts and crew directories for freelancers in British film and television, lists the project in the “In development” section of its latest industry roundup.
The entry is short and blunt. It says the movie is in development, though Filmbase has heard it may not go ahead in its current form.
Filmbase assembles these updates from conversations with crew rather than studio announcements, and its roundup carries a disclaimer stating it is not an official list from any studio and should be treated as a research starting point. So treat this as crew-side chatter, not a Disney statement.
What The Filmbase Listing Actually Says
Filmbase describes that section as projects further out and less certain, but worth keeping an eye on.
Planet of the Apes sits in there alongside Ridley Scott’s Treasure Island, a Russell Crowe project called The Last Druid, Blood Meridian, an untitled Agatha Christie project, and a Fred Astaire biopic.
Most of those entries simply note a status or a shooting location.
The Apes entry is the only one in the group carrying an explicit warning that the project may not survive in its present shape.
The same roundup is the one that put Marvel’s X-Men at Pinewood for an end-of-summer start and flagged Far Cry, Gears of War and Call of Duty all moving through British stages at once.
This Franchise Has Already Stalled Once
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes grossed $397 million worldwide against a $160 million budget in 2024.
That was good enough for Wes Ball to talk openly about a trilogy, for 20th Century Studios to float a 2027 sequel, and for THR to report that Disney would greenlight two more movies.
None of it happened. The 2027 slot quietly stopped being mentioned, no Kingdom sequel ever went into production, and Ball moved on to the live-action Legend of Zelda.
In May, Deadline reported the studio’s actual plan. Matt Shakman would direct a new original story written by Josh Friedman, with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver producing, and it would not be a continuation of Kingdom.
That was already the franchise changing direction twice in two years. If the Filmbase note is accurate, it is now heading for a third.
Shakman Is Booked Solid Either Way
Shakman’s calendar was arguably the bigger warning sign before any of this.
He is attached to direct the pilot and finale of Wild Things, the Siegfried and Roy series starring Jude Law and Andrew Garfield.
He then signed on to direct four episodes of the Paramount+ series Discretion starring Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning.
Apes was supposed to be the feature sitting on top of all that.
A tentpole of that size does not get squeezed around two television commitments unless a studio is genuinely ready to shoot it.
The listing on IMDB also only is titled “Untitled Planet of the Apes Sequel” and there is no release date.
