Fox has scheduled a June 24^th 2011 release date for the Planet of the Apes prequel, Rise of the Apes.  This new release date means the film will open against Pixar’s Cars 2.

Written by Amanda Silver & Rick Jaffa (The Relic, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle) and directed by Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist), Rise of the Apes will tell the story of how "man's own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy."  THR also reports the heartbreaking news that WETA will be creating CGI apes instead of using costumed actors in make-up. I wish I could say that I was shocked.  More after the jump.

Not much is really known about the Planet of the Apes prequel.  The last time we heard about the project was last month when it was announced that it would start filming in Burnaby, BC.  The film was going by Caeser then and was going to “chronicle the downfall of earth to the apes, and how one super intelligent ape leads the revolution against humankind.”

Before that we knew that screenwriter Scott Frank (Minority Report) had left the project after writing a script for the film, which was then going by Caeser too.  After Frank left, Fox brought in writer Jamie Moss (Street Kings) to revise Frank’s script.  On top of that, the current writers (and now producers) Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver were hired to polish up the dialogue.

With filming set to begin sometime soon, expect a lot of Planet of Apes news to be announced in the next couple of weeks.  I just hope that the film doesn’t get the 3D treatment on top of its CGI apes.