Sequel Bits: 'Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes', 'Mad Max: Fury Road', '24'

After the jump:

I don't necessarily think that there will be as big a leap between films. I see Casear as a seminal figure in ape history and he's a mythic character. He's essentially like their Moses and I think Caesar having to grapple with what it means to engage in this conflict that he doesn't really want to be a part of and how that cuts at his core is going to be one of the great challenges for the character. I also think it's a generational story. He has children and I think it's going to be... to me there are many chapters of this mythic ape journey towards the original '68 movie.

Practically speaking, Caesar is in a very tough place.

Now we start to go into this place where self preservation starts to be the order of the day. He knows there's no going back and explaining, "the apes didn't really mean to attack the humans, they were misled by a rogue ape." That's not something you can really explain to a society. And he realizes that now he has to grapple with the reality. He's got pulls in both worlds, this is going to be a very painful journey for him, and for the apes.

Mark Bomback, who's currently working on the next Apes script with Reeves, also has some thoughts about how they can circle back to the world of the 1968 film.

Ours shows very clearly that Caesar is where it all began. So I don't think repeating ourselves is the tricky thing. It's really more about doing honor to those old films and making sure that there is a continuity that we can trick out in the end where it can circle back. Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, who wrote Rise of the Planet of the Apes, did something really brilliant where they launch the Icarus [the spaceship in the original 1968 film]. I remember when I read the draft I said, "What a great idea." At least the seeds have been planted in our universe to get back to there.

Thanks to /Film reader Mark (not Bomback) for the tip. [io9, The Playlist, Creative Screenwriting]

We all know what's become of Natalie Portman since Léon: The Professional. But if you're waiting to find out what's happened to her character, Mathilda, you'll probably be waiting a while. Here's what Luc Besson had to say about the possibility of a The Professional sequel.

Natalie is old now, she's a mother. [Laughs] It's too late. If I got an idea tomorrow about a sequel, of course I would do it. But I never came up with something strong enough. I don't want to do sequels for money, I want to do a sequel because it's worth it. I want it to be as good or better than the original.

I mean, sure, that's not a firm no. Still, I wouldn't hold my breath. [JoBlo]

At the 24 Comic-Con panel, actor Kiefer Sutherland admitted he was reluctant to let Jack Bauer go.

It's hard to end it. We came — ourselves, as people who are making the show — came full-faced with that. Trying to create the end of our show this season, because we had said this was the last season, was really difficult for us. All of us individually didn't want to let it go; we fought against it, we fought for it.

Well, Sutherland is in luck because there's a slim chance he won't have to. "We're still talking about the movie; it's still potentially out there," said executive producer Jon Cassar.

For what it's worth, Fox Networks Group chairman Peter Rice isn't ruling out a return either. At a separate event, he told press that while producers haven't had "specific conversation" about 24's return, "I'm sure that we will in the future." [THR]

It took a while for Mad Max: Fury Road to reveal a first image, but now it's dropping stills all over the place. Check out some more pictures featuring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.

According to a new report, the Mad Max: Fury Road shoot was an unusual one. Not only was the film shot in order, there no traditional script. Instead, director George Miller and his actors relied on detailed storyboards. Mad Max: Fury Road will finally open on May 15, 2015. [EW via The Playlist]