If Rupert Wyatt Won't Direct 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,' Maybe Matt Reeves Will Instead

It was reported last week that director Rupert Wyatt was stepping down from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to last year's very successful Rise of the Planet of the Apes. From what we had learned, it sounded like Wyatt wasn't happy with Fox's plans to lock in on a May 23, 2014, release date.

Well, it doesn't look like Fox plans on backing down from that release date, as the studio is moving full steam ahead on finding a replacement director. Collider reported on Tuesday that Matt Reeves, who helmed Cloverfield and Let Me In, was Fox's top choice to take over the role of director for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Reeves would be an interesting choice for the sequel, and while he's not a top-tier director, he would prove that Fox isn't looking for just any random director to take over. Hopefully the studio learned its lesson after X-Men: The Last Stand. Do. Not. Hire. Brett Ratner. EVER.

Apparently Fox also has Guillermo del Toro on their short list, but I'd be shocked if he wound up replacing Wyatt. A del Toro-directed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes would be fascinating, though, especially considering that the reboot/prequel was the first Planet of the Apes movie to go motion-capture to create the apes. Del Toro is such an animatronics and puppets guy (see: Pan's Labyrinth or Hellboy II: The Golden Army), I'm not sure he would go for a CGI-heavy film like Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.