‘Planet of the Apes’ Timeline Explained, From the 1968 Original to ‘Kingdom’
variety.comTodd Gilchrist editorFor a writer, signing on to “Planet of the Apes” is less an assignment than a calling. After all, it’s the longest-running science-fiction series in film history.
So when Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, the husband-and-wife screenwriting and producing team, conceived “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” in 2011, they envisioned more than a single-serving reboot. “We did see that if we played it right, there’d be at least three movies,” Jaffa tells Variety.He wasn’t wrong: Their four-film stint culminates with “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” the franchise’s 10th installment (and the first in a reported new trilogy).
Their tenure follows that of Paul Dehn, who took over screenwriting duties from Rod Serling and Pierre Boulle for the 1970s “Planet of the Apes” sequels. “Kingdom” also echoes the series’ labyrinthine internal timeline, which elapses across a millennia of circular (and occasionally contradictory) storytelling.As producers on “Kingdom,” the duo ensured screenwriter Josh Friedman and director Wes Ball moved “Apes” history forward while retaining the saga’s core elements.“It’s not just action and spectacle,” Silver says of the series, “but there’s a deeper dive into other facets of the storytelling.” Adds Jaffa: “By creating apes that are like us, it allows us to explore what it means to be human.”Ahead of the May 8 release of “Kingdom,” brush up on where (and when) “Planet of the Apes” has gone.In the year 3978, cantankerous astronaut George Taylor (Charlton Heston) crashes on an unknown planet where “damn dirty” apes have evolved into the dominant species.
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