Planet of the Apes

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Planet of the Apes is a novel by Pierre Boulle, originally published in French as La Planète des Singes and also translated as Monkey Planet (translator Xan Fielding).

It has been made into a movie twice:

• Planet of the Apes (1968), directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Charlton Heston
• Planet of the Apes (2001), directed by Tim Burton and starring Mark Wahlberg

The success of the original Planet of the Apes (1968) movie led to several sequels, none as critically acclaimed as the original:

• 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)

There was also a television series and several comic books based on the movies.

A good reference for the TV and movie franchises can be found here: Planet of the Apes

Background

Planet of the Apes is an example of social commentary through dystopia.

It is currently the most famous example of a genre that had an unexpected origin. When the historian Thomas Macaulay reviewed Leopold von Ranke's The Ecclesiastical and Political History of the Popes, he imagined in the far future the figure of a cultivated Maori New Zealander arriving to survey a future London in ruins, like the 18th century excursions of Wood and Dawkins, of Stuart and Revett at Baalbek or Palmyra.

nl:De Apenplaneet de:Planet der Affen fr:La Planète des singes ja:猿の惑星