Hail, Caesar! 2014 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
So many ‘Planets,’ so little time. Here’s what to know before heading into ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’
➔ For 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. 196 8
Planet of the Apes
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. Later he learns it’s actually post-apocalyptic Earth, destroyed by “maniac” humans. 1971 Beneath the Planet of the Apes Though inexplicably set in 3955, director Ted Post’s sequel picks up immediately after its predecessor with the crash of a second spaceship carrying hunky astronaut Brent (James Franciscus). Brent and Heston’s Taylor become the aforementioned maniacs when they inadvertently detonate a doomsday weapon. 1971
Escape From the Planet of the Apes Chimpanzees Cornelius (Roddy Mcdowall) and Zira (Kim Hunter) flee Earth prior to its destruction, then surf a time warp back to 1973. Authorities discover they experimented on humans, forcing them to go on the run just as Zira’s about to give birth to their son Milo.
Told largely from the animals’ perspective, “Rise” takes place mostly in 2019. When rescued chimpanzee Caesar (Andy Serkis, in a role unrelated to the earlier Caesars) develops higher cognitive functions after being exposed to an experimental serum, he helps the primates escape to freedom as a pandemic decimates Earth’s human populations. 2001
Planet of the Apes
Tim Burton’s misbegotten reboot, set in 5021, enlists Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth and Paul Giamatti — as well as shockingly realistic prosthetic makeup by Rick Baker — to zhuzh up the story of the original film. 1973
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
In 2003, gorilla general Aldo (Claude Akins) stages a coup to overthrow Caesar (Mcdowall), just as humanity’s dregs attempt to regain control of the planet. A flop, “Battle” killed the big-screen franchise for almost three decades.
In 2029, Caesar’s evenhanded leadership is challenged by rebellious lieutenant Koba (Toby Kebbell), who believes the key to ape survival is striking first against the increasingly desperate human survivors. 2017
War for the Planet of the Apes
Two years later, Caesar’s colony is corralled in a prison camp by a homicidal colonel (Woody Harrelson) inspired by iconic Vietnam War films. He fears both his superiors and a mutant strain of Simian Flu that reduces humans to primitives.
1972
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes In 1991, Milo (Mcdowall, playing son to his own Cornelius!) — now grown and named Caesar — leads his fellow primates in an uprising against their human oppressors. The ultramodern architecture of Century City was used as a stand-in for the futuristic police state. 2024
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Three hundred years after Caesar’s death, another internal conflict erupts when a young champanzee named Noa (Owen Teague) questions the presumed superiority of apes over humankind.