Planet of the Apes (2001 film) billed as "episode one in the Chronicles of Aschlar", Broyles' script caught the attention of director Tim Burton, who was hired in February 2000. "I wasn't interested in doing a remake or a sequel of the original "Planet of the Apes" film," Burton said later. "But I was intrigued by the idea of revisiting that world. Like a lot of people, I was affected by the original film. I wanted to do a 're-imagining'." Richard D. Zanuck signed on as producer in March. "This is a very emotional film for me. I greenlighted the original "Apes" when I was the
Planet of the Apes (2001 film) to a sequel, "but not a sequel to the fifth film, an alternate sequel to the first film". 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." 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