It is 1968 when the first film ‘Planet of the Apes’, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Charlton Heston, is released in cinemas. The film was based on the 1963 French novel ‘La Planète des Singes’ by Pierre Boulle. The story revolves around a group of astronauts who crash land on a planet where intelligent apes dominate and humans are primitive creatures. The images at that time were as primitive as the way films were produced.
The film was a great success more than 50 years ago and spawned a number of sequels, including:
- Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
- Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
- Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
- Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
In addition to the original film series, a 2001 remake directed by Tim Burton and a trilogy of reboot films released between 2011 and 2017 followed more than 25 years later.
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
- War for the Planet of the Apes” (2017)
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
It is now 7 years later and ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ will be released this year. A film by Disney and Twentieth Century Studios, also the first part in a new trilogy.
The new film is directed by Wes Ball (known for The Maze Runner trilogy). It takes place 300 years after the events of the last film ‘War of the Planet of the Apes’. Humans now seem like a subspecies in a world of monkeys. Watch.
Planet of the Apes – 1968
Photo credits: 20th Century Studios.
