Although the director and main star of Rise of the Planet of the Apes will not be returning for its sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 20th Century Fox looks to be taking measures to prevent the same thing from happening with the next installment in the series. Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) landed the directing gig for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes after Rupert Wyatt dropped out of the sequel last September. (The reason for his departure was that he didn’t think they had enough time to hit the May 2014 release date, but ironically, the movie is now hitting theatres on July 11th.) At any rate, it would seem that Fox is happy with what Reeves has done because they have just locked him in to direct the third film in the series as well.

According to Deadline, Matt Reeves has signed on to direct the third, as-of-yet untitled installment in the rebooted Planet of the Apes franchise. This time around he will write the script himself with the help of Mark Bomback (Live Free or Die Hard, Total Recall), who did the final rewrite on Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. It would likely be Reeves’ next film since the third installment is said to be a priority for the studio.

In theory this sounds like good news, although we won’t know for sure until we get to see the next movie. The one downside is that it means another interesting director is getting tied down by a major blockbuster franchise. Reeves was previously attached to direct a handful of other intriguing genre flicks including vampire film The Passage, classic horror reinvention This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein, and a movie based on 8 O’Clock in the Morning, the same short story that inspired They Live. Are you happy to see Matt Reeves return to the Planet of the Apes?