In a twist few could have predicted, Danny Elfman was hired to compose the score. The picture would star Mark Wahlberg, himself fresh off the $360m-grossing The Perfect Storm from the previous summer, along with Tim Roth (who walked away from playing Severus Snape in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to play this film’s baddie), Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan and Paul Giamatti.
In a world before the word “reboot” was fashionable, and really before the idea of relaunching a popular franchise from scratch was all that common, this big-budget sci-fi thriller was consistently referred to not as a remake but as a reimagining.Ĭall it the first reboot of the modern era, or give credit to Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, but the late July release was positioned as one of the biggies for summer 2001. But by the time the chips fell into place, it was Tim Burton, fresh off his comeback smash Sleepy Hollow, who netted the gig. The notion of a Planet of the Apes remake had been kicking around for ages, with Oliver Stone among the many names attached in one Entertainment Weekly article or online Coming Attractions post or another.
