Planet of the Apes was a major franchise for Fox. From merchandising to sequels, it set precedents for franchising well before Star Wars. Even after the end of the films and the television series', Fox was still looking at ways to exploit the property. One of those was plans for a sequel, reboot or reimagining well before Tim Burton's film.
There were a number of these concepts, and they got stuck in development hell and the incompetence of ever changing studio executives. My personal favorite is the concept of Return to the Planet of the Apes, by Adam Rifkin. The concept started in 1988. It would have been a direct sequel to the original film, and would have disregarded the four sequels that preceded it. It would have featured the apes centuries after the original film, when they are in their Roman empire era. It would have featured Duke, a descendent of Taylor from the original film, and his leading a human slave revolt against the apes.
The project was days away from entering pre-production. Rick Baker would do the prosthetics, Danny Elfman would compose the soundtrack, and Tom Cruise and Charlie Sheen were in contention for the lead role. However, studio executives changed, and there were creative differences. Rifkin did a series of rewrites and the project was abandoned. I'll quote the wikipedia passage below, which also includes Peter Jackson's near reboot of the Rifkin concept. I'll also link to an article on this.
What if Return to the Planet of the Apes did get made?
http://www.wired.com/2012/02/tales-from-development-hell-apes/
There were a number of these concepts, and they got stuck in development hell and the incompetence of ever changing studio executives. My personal favorite is the concept of Return to the Planet of the Apes, by Adam Rifkin. The concept started in 1988. It would have been a direct sequel to the original film, and would have disregarded the four sequels that preceded it. It would have featured the apes centuries after the original film, when they are in their Roman empire era. It would have featured Duke, a descendent of Taylor from the original film, and his leading a human slave revolt against the apes.
The project was days away from entering pre-production. Rick Baker would do the prosthetics, Danny Elfman would compose the soundtrack, and Tom Cruise and Charlie Sheen were in contention for the lead role. However, studio executives changed, and there were creative differences. Rifkin did a series of rewrites and the project was abandoned. I'll quote the wikipedia passage below, which also includes Peter Jackson's near reboot of the Rifkin concept. I'll also link to an article on this.
What if Return to the Planet of the Apes did get made?
http://www.wired.com/2012/02/tales-from-development-hell-apes/
20th Century Fox president Craig Baumgarten was impressed with Adam Rifkin's filmmaking with Never on Tuesday. In 1988, Rifkin was brought in the studio to pitch ideas for films. Rifkin, being a fan of the 1968 Planet of the Apes felt it was best to continue the film series. "Having independent film experience, I promised I could write and direct a huge-looking film for a reasonable price and budget, like Aliens."[11] Fox commissioned Rifkin to write what amounted to a sequel, "but not a sequel to the fifth film, an alternate sequel to the first film."[11] He took influences from Spartacus, with the storyline being "the ape empire had reached its Roman era. A descendant of Charlton Heston's character named Duke would eventually lead a human slave revolt against the oppressive Roman-esque apes, led by General Izan. A real sword and sandal spectacular, monkey style. Gladiator did the same movie without the ape costumes."[11]
Titled Return to the Planet of the Apes, the project was put on fast track and almost entered pre-production. Rick Baker was hired to design the prosthetic makeup with Danny Elfman composing the film score. Tom Cruise and Charlie Sheen were in contention for the lead role. "I can't accurately describe in words the utter euphoria I felt knowing that I, Adam Rifkin, was going to be resurrecting the Planet of the Apes. It all seemed too good to be true. I soon found out it was."[11] Days before the film was to commence pre-production, new studio executives arrived at Fox, which caused creative differences between Rifkin and the studio.[11] Rifkin was commissioned to rewrite the script through various drafts. The project was abandoned until Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh pitched their own idea, with the apes going through a Renaissance. In the story, the ape government becomes concerned over the new art works, the humans are revolting and the liberal apes shelter a half-human, half-ape from the gorillas. Roddy McDowall was enthusiastic about their proposal and agreed to play the Leonardo da Vinci-type character they had written for him. However, the executive Jackson spoke to was not a fan of the series and seemingly unaware of McDowall's involvement in the series, and Jackson turned his attention back to Heavenly Creatures.[12]