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
Escape from the Planet of the Apes quite good." Arthur D. Murphy of "Variety" called it "an excellent film. Far better than last year's followup and almost as good as the original 'Planet of the Apes.'" Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that the film "works largely because Miss Hunter and McDowall, working under Don Taylor's deft direction, are such gifted actors and because John Chambers' chimpanzee makeup is so convincing, as it was in the other pictures." David Pirie of "The Monthly Film Bulletin" wrote, "Infuriatingly, "Escape from the Planet of the Apes" continues the downward trend of a science-fiction series that started out