Planet of the Apes was born first in books. It was thanks to the French writer, Pierre Boulle, who 61 years ago published The planet of singes (Planet of the Apes), with a positive reception, which would quickly lead to this dystopian novel being published in English.
Boulle was already a prestigious writer. 11 years ago he had published The bridge over the River Kwai, which at the end of the 50s would be made into a film, winning seven Oscars. However, when publishing Planet of the Apes, and despite the great interest of Hollywood, he sold the rights without much faith, thinking that his novel was not substantial enough for a film script. He never imagined that it would become a cult film saga.
You can read: With a screening at the Mamm the film I Saw Three Black Lights begins its season in theaters
This week the new installment of this saga opens in movie theaters across the country, Planet of the Apes: New Kingdom, and like many they are looking for where they can see the complete saga about this story that shows a planet where apes and not humans are the dominant species.
This saga is complete on a single streaming platform, Disney+, so the marathon can start with the film released in 1968, Planet of the Apesstarring Charlton Heston.
Heston’s film would quickly have the endorsement of critics and the public, so its producers did not waste time and They planned several films expanding the storyin addition to a television series that did not do well and only had one season, but there was also an animated series much closer to the original story of Pierre Boulle’s novel.
You may be interested in: La Suprema: the fiction film of a real and resilient people
The first film tells how some astronauts – who for more than two thousand years have traveled through space, wintering – arrive at a planet that at one moment seems uninhabited, until they encounter the reality of a society led by apes, while humans are enslaved.
By 1970 the second installment would appear, Return to the planet of the apeswhich had serious delays, since Charlton Heston would once again be the protagonist, but he wanted to intervene in the story, with the aim of closing the story and avoiding more films.
The studios did not accept, so they decided to tell the story of a second ship with astronauts who arrived in search of the crew commanded by Colonel Taylor (Heston).
A year later it would be released Escape from the planet of the apeswhere some of the smartest apes repair Colonel Taylor’s ship, use it before it explodes on the planet, and go back in time to meet the society the astronauts had left behind.
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes would arrive in 1972, where a plague, at the beginning of the 80s, would wipe out the domestic animals, which would be replaced by apes, but due to their intelligence, they would gradually become a slave labor force, until the arrival of the rebellion.
You may be interested in: Love Lies Bleeding: the queer thriller that brings together Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian
The closing of this first stage would be with Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, in a post-nuclear society, where apes and humans fight to be the leading society on the ruined planet.
More than 25 years would have to pass for the genius of Tim Burton to arrive and make a new version, Planet of the Apes, Updated and with different dramatic twists, it made use of all new special effects technologies. They began to work on the image with motion capture, there the actors play the role of the ape in a suit full of points and connections and then, with special effects, they become the character of the film in a more real way.
But the new series of films that perfectly connect its story, including the one that opens this Thursday in movie theaters, began in 2011 with Planet of the Apes: the originwhich starts from a previously untreated idea, with laboratory apes used to test new medications.
From there, Planet of the Apes: Dawn in 2014, and Planet of the Apes: war, in 2017.
A saga that has raised a total of more than 2,000 million dollars at the box office and hopes to continue making history with the screening of new films
