Rise of the Planet of the Apes proved to be a sizable sleeper hit for Fox last summer. In an interview at CinemaCon, Fox CEO Tom Rothman told Steve that the studio was “pushing forward aggressively” on a sequel, in anticipation of a possible summer 2014 release date. Director Rupert Wyatt and star (no offense to James Franco) Andy Serkis were both already set to return; today comes news that Contagion and The Bourne Ultimatum scribe Scott. Z. Burns will write the script.

The first film saw a scientist (James Franco) experimenting on apes in search of a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. The result was super-intelligent chimp Caesar (Serkis), who, disgusted by the mistreatment he and his kind endure at the hands of man, leads an uprising. The sequel will, predictably, see Caesar and co. making use of their hard-won freedom to gain dominion over the planet (making it a sort of, “Planet of the Monkeys,” if you will). Hit the jump for more.

Per Heat Vision, Burns will inherit a draft from original Rise scribes Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa. Rise of the Planet of the Apes didn’t seem all that promising when it was first announced. The last memory we had of the Apes franchise was…whatever the hell Tim Burton did with it in 2001. Moreover, I’m normally not that fond of CGI/live-action blends. However, Wyatt, the crew at Weta Digital, and a stunning performance from Andy Serkis combined to create a visually enthralling and unexpectedly poignant popcorn flick. Can’t wait for the next entry.

Here’s what director Wyatt had to say a while back about where the franchise might be headed:

“You could start this story again eight years from where we left off, the next generation of apes, those that have come from our protagonists, perhaps going in to a conflict with humans and showing real fear, in the same way as going into war for young soldiers in this day and age, telling their story. Or how apes are taking over cities, and being moved into human environments and having to interact with them and deal with things that are part of our culture and understand and evolve through them. Spies that are in the employ of the apes, working against humans and humans maybe existing underground, because that’s a way they can avoid the virus, coming up above ground wearing gas masks, and maybe that’s what dehumanises them.”