Reeves told the story he wanted to tell. And he threw out the big time jump that was originally planned for the second film so that he could focus on Caesar and the early days of the apes. Grounding his films in a more real world. Frankly I think he squandered a lot of the potential in film 3. I'd rather the series have a new director that is willing to embrace the scifi and strangeness of the Planet of the Apes 1000+ years after the apes have risen up and conquer the world. When theyve got a fully thriving civilization with their own unique technology, government, culture etc. That doesnt really seem like the sort of thing that would be in Reeves wheelhouse.