Those damn dirty movie producers! It appears as though we may be returning to the planet of the apes, with talk of another remake.

Only this time instead of the original Planet of the Apes it will be the third sequel in the series, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, getting a make-over.

Chud is reporting that Fox studios plan to 'redo' or 'reboot' or 'reimage' the 1973 film, which focussed on the rise of the talking chimp Caeser and his battle against man in a then futuristic 1991.

Personally, I loved the entire original cinematic saga, all five movies, even if things could appear a little confusing at times along the way, and Conquest was a definite stand-out.



It follows on from Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1972), which saw chimp couple Cornelius and Zira flee from an atomic blast (featured in the second film Beneath the Planet of the Apes) by traveling back in time to present day Earth, only to be treated like ... well, animals I guess.

Anyway, at the end of Escape, Zira gives birth to a baby boy, Caeser, before she and her hubby are hunted down and killed by the authorities.

Ceaser is then raised by Ricardo Montalban's circus owner Armando, who throws himself out of a window during Conquest after trying to hide the identity of his foster child, who like his parents turns out to be smarter than most humans, and hairier.

As an interesting twist in the film all dogs and cats have been extinct after astronauts bring back a deadly virus which wipes them out. In their place apes have been domesticated, and even ensalved as they are capable of waiting tables for even less than the minimum wage.

Spurred on by his master's death, and the growing 'using and abusing' his monkey mates are being subjected to, Caeser (played by a young Roddy McDowell) leads a bloody uprising.

Conquest was the predessessor to Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1974), the last film before director Tim Burton's less than satisfactory Planet of the Apes (2001).

It was a nice try, but the bottom line was 'did that classic sci-fi film from 1968 really need to be remade? The answer of course is 'no'. It still stands up today.



Chud says a script has been been written for the Conquest update, and has a title, Genesis: Apes, but it differs from the original. Read here for more on the script.

It says "In this version Caesar is the result of a genetic scientist fooling around with the nature of things," and later treated like an outcast by both humans and monkeys.

But, again, do we need it?

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes was so much more than just a bunch of guys dressing up in ape suits and a continuing a popular series.

It borrowed heavily from Martin Luther King's efforts of just a few years earlier, by carrying important messages about oppression. Messages that still serve a purpose today.