Planet of the Apes In 1999, Fox hired William Broyles, Jr. to write a new script. Fox insisted on a July 2001 release date, but otherwise offered Broyles considerable creative license. This prospect attracted director Tim Burton, who hoped to do a "re-imagining" of "Planet of the Apes". Burton found the production arduous, largely due to Fox's strict release schedule. The studio budgeted the film at $100 million, meaning Broyles' ambitious script had to be altered to reduce costs; Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal worked on rewrites even as the film entered production. The tight schedule meant all stages of production were rushed. The
Planet of the Apes (2001 film) Paul Giamatti's character "was supposed to turn into a good guy. There was supposed to be this touching personal growth thing at the end," Giamatti reflected. "But Tim [Burton] and I both thought that was kind of lame so we decided to just leave him as a jerk into the end." Burton wanted to begin filming in October 2000, but it was pushed back to November 6, 2000 and ended in April 2001. Filming for "Planet of the Apes" began at Lake Powell, where parts of the original film were shot. Due to a local drought, production crews had to