Planet of the Apes

Series

• Planet of the Apes (1968)
• 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)

Fakes, remakes, and terrible reboots not considered.

Michael Wilson and Rod Serling original screenplay directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Charlton Heston is a story where apes have assumed the role of the dominant species and humans are mute creatures wearing animal skins.

Arthur P. Jacobs produced the first five Apes films through APJAC Productions for distributor 20th Century Fox; following his death in 1973, Fox controlled the franchise. Jacobs hired veteran television writer Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone, to pen the screenplay. Serling's script changed elements of Boulle's novel, introducing Cold War themes; notably, he devised a new twist ending that revealed the planet to be a future Earth where humans had destroyed themselves through nuclear warfare.