Speaking with
The Playlist while promoting his new movie,
Side Effects, screenwriter Scott Z. Burns talks about his script for 20th Century Fox's upcoming sequel
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes. Rupert Wyatt, who previously helmed
Rise and was attached to the sequel until more recently, previously stated that he was toying with the idea of having
Dawn be influenced by
Full Metal Jacket, and Burns confirmed that this was being planned.
"Yeah it had a bit of that. It also, it really explored the notion of peaceful coexistence and compromise versus extremism and conflict and that kind of inherent issue and how you get along with the other."
However, with a new writer hired shortly after Matt Reeves (
Cloverfield) signed on to direct, we'll probably see some alterations to the initial storyline.
"I had a great time working on Apes," said Burns.
"I love science fiction and I think that it's, in contrast to [Side Effects], an awesome opportunity to do social commentary in a really fun way. Rupert Wyatt and I worked on a script that I loved and I had a great time doing that. Then Rupert and the studio parted ways and, as sometimes happens, when the director leaves the studio through the front door, the writer is frequently thrown out the second story window,. When they brought in a new director, they brought in a new writer. So I don't know how much of what they did they will still be using, because what we did was really fun and I was really happy with the work we were doing."
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is expected to begin filming this Spring, with Andy Serkis reprising his role as Caesar. The film is set to hit theaters May 23rd, 2014.