CONTAGION Writer To Script Sequel to RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

It's not much of a spoiler to say that Rise of the Planet of the Apes ends with the apes, well, rising. But the spread of a virus has a lot to do with the implied downfall of humanity, and I remember tweeting something about how Steven Soderbergh's Contagion could essentially take place during the end credits sequence of ROTPOTA. Looks like someone at Fox agreed with that sentiment.

THR says that Contagion writer Scott Z. Burns has been hired to write the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes. No word yet on exactly when the movie will take place - rumor has it it could be a few years after the last film's climax - and only Andy Serkis and director Rupert Wyatt have been locked down to return to their respective roles. James Franco and Freida Pinto were fine, but everyone remembers WETA's amazing work on the apes and how the writers were able to make Caesar the central character and have him be someone we truly cared about. The point is, I'll be fine if Franco and Pinto don't come back for a sequel: Serkis, Wyatt, and WETA are all we need leading the charge, and Burns seems like an excellent addition to that team.

Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa, the writers who penned the original, were brought back to write the sequel, but Fox is apparently looking to beef up the script a little bit by bringing in Burns, an A-list writer, to do a rewrite.

Everyone looking forward to Rise 2 as much as I am?