In the farthest reaches of space, a group of star travelers finds a message in a bottle that contains the record of another spaceship’s doomed voyage to a planet where apes are masters and humans are mute savages. Thus begins one of science fiction’s most well-known franchises, Planet of the Apes.
Published in 1963 by noted French author and former military operative Pierre Boulle, La Planete de singes, the original novel told a philosophical and satirical story about talking apes that was published under the title Monkey Planet in the United Kingdom. However, the story did not gain traction in public consciousness until it was adapted into a feature film in 1968 starring Charlton Heston. Both philosophical and action-oriented, the smash hit produced by former Hollywood publicist Arthur P. Jacobs would spawn four sequels, two television series, and a menagerie of merchandise in the 1970s. Its shocking ending featuring the ruins of the Statue of Liberty is one of the most iconic endings in film history.
Hollywood would remake Planet of the Apes in 2001 and eventually reboot the franchise in 2011, which would inspire two sequels. The story continues on May 10 as the latest installment, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, premieres, kicking off the 2024 summer movie season.
Whether you are a diehard Apes fan or just want to monkey around with the fandom, here are this blogger’s picks for the best of the Planet of the Apes: