Planet of the Apes Movies in Order & How Many Are There
Planet of the Apes is one of the most popular sci-fi/time-travel franchises of all time. All the way from the original movie from 1968, and its shocking ending, people were fascinated with the world where humankind has swapped places with apes. So, it is no wonder that so many movies have come out, and in this article, we will let you know how many exactly and what is the best way to watch Planet of the Apes movies in order.
Planet of the Apes is an American science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control.
The franchise is based on French author Pierre Boulle’s 1963 novel La Planète des singes, translated into English as Planet of the Apes or Monkey Planet. Its 1968 film adaptation, Planet of the Apes, was a critical and commercial hit, initiating a series of sequels, tie-ins, and derivative works.
So let us check how many Planet of the Apes movies are there really.
How many Planet of the Apes movies are there?
There are currently nine Planet of the Apes movies and two TV shows. We can sort those movies into three different categories, original movies, remake movie, and reboot movies. Also, there are two shows. So let’s check them out.
Original movies
- 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)
TV Shows
- Planet of the Apes (1974)
- Return to the Planet of the Apes (1975)
Remake movie
- Planet of the Apes (2001)
Reboot movies
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
- War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Let’s now check what are these movies and shows about and how are they connected.
Planet of the Apes movies in order
Planet of the Apes is not a complicated movie franchise, but it does need to be separated into parts. So let’s check them out below.
Original Planet of the Apes movies
The original Planet of the Apes franchise spanned five movies. Its 1968 film adaptation, Planet of the Apes, was a critical and commercial hit, initiating a series of sequels, tie-ins, and derivative works. Four sequels followed the original film from 1970 to 1973: Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, and Battle for the Planet of the Apes. Let’s check them all out.
Planet of the Apes (1968)
George Taylor is in command of a spaceship with three other astronauts in it. The flight lasts six months at almost the speed of light, which is seven hundred years of Earth time. George turns on the automatic pilot and lies down in the capsule, where he, like the other three astronauts, will spend the time until descent in a kind of hibernation.
The rocket lands on an unknown planet outside the solar system. The descent does not go well. While George and the two astronauts are saved by rowing to shore, their colleague dies during the descent and mummifies into a monkey in her capsule. They are then attacked by gorillas on horseback who use weapons and talk to each other in English. After being injured, George is operated on by two chimpanzees, one of whom is doctor Zira.
While he is recovering, the monkeys lock him in a cage with Nova, one of those primitive people who cannot speak. Zira and her archeologist fiancé Cornelius become interested in George because he is the first man to speak and write. When they inform the most respected old Dr. Zaius about this, he does not want to believe that people can speak and orders his brain to be examined.
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
After, in the distant future astronaut Taylor realized that the planet of the apes he was on was actually Earth, a new human spacecraft lands on the same planet, with a crew that went in search of Taylor. However, only the astronaut Brent survived the descent of the spacecraft, who meets Taylor’s companion Nova and wants to know from her what happened to Taylor. However, the two soon fall into monkey captivity, where the scientist Zira, whom Taylor had previously taken an extreme interest in, and her husband Cornelius try to help them.
Eventually, Brent and Nova manage to escape from the monkey traps, and discover a secret underground area where a strange religious cult worshiping the atomic bomb is nurtured by a group of people with telekinetic abilities. It turns out that Taylor is also in their captivity.
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
After the military finds the remains of a recently grounded spaceship in the sea off the coast of California, a trio of monkeys emerges from the floating capsule. Along with the commander, the chimpanzee Cornelius (R. McDowall), there is his wife Zira (K. Hunter) and the ape scientist, Dr. Milo (S. Mineo). While their arrival on Earth arouses the indescribable interest of the public and the media, a scientist, Dr. Lewis Dixon (B. Dillman), and his colleague Stephanie Branton (N. Trundy) soon arrive at the scene.
Realizing that they are dealing with particularly intelligent and evolved monkeys, Lewis and Stephanie object when General Winthrop (H. Lauter) and his assistant (M. Emmet Walsh) want to place the monkeys in a cage with a large orangutan.
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
In 1991, North America is a country where all dogs and cats died due to a plague that arrived from outer space, which is why people use monkeys as their servants and slaves. Armando (R. Montalban) is the owner of the circus who leads the chimpanzee Milo (R. McDowall) on a leash. But Armando carefully hides that Milo is actually Caesar, a talking monkey, because the government immediately kills such potentially dangerous monkeys.
Caesar is the son of the legendary monkey couple Cornelius and Zelda, chimpanzees who arrived on Earth 20 years ago and whose offspring, according to legend, could threaten the survival of humanity.
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
Area of ​​North America in 2070. While under the leadership of the wise ape Caesar (R. McDowall) they try to organize a common life in peace and tolerance, humans and apes remember the past in which the evil humans were at war with their own kind, but also with the apes. After God created a pair of monkeys from whose union Caesar was born, the first monkey who possessed the ability to speak, his parents were killed, and Caesar led the surviving monkeys to fight for equality with humans.
Freed from human slavery, after some time the monkeys, under Caesar’s leadership, built a community where they live with humans in harmony and mutual tolerance. Meanwhile, Caesar started a relationship with the monkey Lisa (N. Trundy), with whom he has a son Cornelius (B. Porter). While Caesar is advised on the most important issues by the wise old monkey Virgil (P. Williams), the people are led by MacDonald (A. Stoker). But the threat to the harmonious life of humans and monkeys is represented by the aggressive gorilla Aldo (C. Akins), the commander of the monkey army who believes that his species must dominate humans.
Planet of the Apes TV shows
Four sequels that followed the original movie did not approach the critical acclaim of the original, but were commercially successful, spawning a live-action television series in 1974 and an animated series in 1975. Let’s check them out.
Planet of the Apes (1974)
Ron Harper and James Naughton played Alan Virdon and Peter Burke, two 20th-century American astronauts who pass through a time warp to a future where apes subjugate humans (unlike the original film, the humans can speak). Roddy McDowall returned to the franchise as Galen, a chimpanzee who joins the astronauts.
Booth Coleman played orangutan Councillor Zaius and Mark Lenard played gorilla General Urko. The episodes portray Virdon, Burke, and Galen as they search for a way home, aid downtrodden humans and apes and avoid the authorities
Return to the Planet of the Apes (1975)
The plot concerns three American astronauts, Bill Hudson (Tom Williams), Jeff Allen (Austin Stoker, who played MacDonald in Battle) and Judy Franklin (Claudette Nevins), who inadvertently journey to Earth’s far future.
They find the world populated by three groups: mute humans who inhabit desert caves, subterranean human “Underdwellers” fashioned after the mutants of Beneath and civilized apes who subjugate the humans. Through the show, the astronauts become increasingly involved in the planet’s affairs and in defending humans against an ape invasion.
Remake Planet of the Apes movie
In 1999, Fox hired William Broyles, Jr. to write a new script. Fox insisted on a July 2001 release date but otherwise offered Broyles considerable creative license. This prospect attracted director Tim Burton, who hoped to do a “re-imagining” of Planet of the Apes. Burton found the production arduous, largely due to Fox’s strict release schedule. The studio budgeted the film at $100 million, meaning Broyles’ ambitious script had to be altered to reduce costs; Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal worked on rewrites even as the film entered production. The tight schedule meant that all stages of production were rushed.
Planet of the Apes (2001)
The film stars Mark Wahlberg as astronaut Leo Davidson, who accidentally travels through a wormhole to a distant planet where talking apes enslave humans. He leads a human revolt and upends ape civilization by discovering that the apes evolved from the normal Earth primates who had accompanied his mission and had arrived on the planet years before. Helena Bonham Carter played chimpanzee Ari, while Tim Roth played the human-hating chimpanzee General Thade.
The film received mixed reviews; most critics believed it failed to compare to the original. Much of the negative commentary focused on the confusing plot and twist ending, though many reviewers praised the special effects. The film succeeded at the box office, taking in $362 million worldwide. Fox had initially hoped for a sequel, but the difficult production left Burton unenthusiastic about participating, and the film failed to generate enough interest for the studio to pursue a follow-up.
Reboot Planet of the Apes movies
A reboot film series commenced in 2011 with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which was followed by Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in 2014 and War for the Planet of the Apes in 2017. Let’s check them out.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
At the biotechnology company Gen-Sys, scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) tests a viral drug on chimpanzees to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. The drug significantly increases the chimpanzee’s intelligence, she goes crazy, escapes from the cage and is finally killed. Will’s boss Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo) interrupts the project and orders Robert Franklin (Tyler Labine) to euthanize the chimpanzees.
After doing as he’s told, he realizes that the drugged chimpanzee recently had a cub, which explains her behavior. Will rescues the chimpanzee and takes it to his father, Charles, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. A small chimpanzee named Caesar (Andy Serkis) has inherited his mother’s intelligence, and Will continues his research from home.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
A group of humans who survived a catastrophic virus ten years ago are now a threat to the genetically modified apes led by Caesar. The peace achieved between these two species will not last long. Humans and apes are on the brink of a war that will determine the dominant species on planet Earth.
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
The year is 2028, two years have passed since Koba’s (Toby Kebbell) attack on the human survivors in San Francisco. Today, Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his tribe of intelligent apes must fight for their lives against the fugitive American military faction known as Alpha-Omega, led by the ruthless Colonel (Woody Harrelson). The Colonel’s military horde even employs other monkeys, derogatorily called donkeys.
Alpha-Omega mounts a failed attack on the ape guardhouse and four soldiers are captured, including one named The Preacher (Gabriel Chavarria) and the gorilla Red (Ty Olsson). But Caesar lets them go free, hoping to prove to the Colonel that monkeys are not savages, while Red escapes by wounding the gorilla Winter. Meanwhile, Caesar’s eldest son Blue Eyes and Lieutenant Rocket return from a long journey and claim to have found a place across the desert, ideal for apes to settle.
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Winter claims that the apes should go immediately to the promised land, but Caesar wants them to prepare for the journey first. Because of this decision, Caesar will regret that night, because the Colonel leads a team that enters the monkey house and kills Blue Eyes and Caesar’s wife Cornelia.
Do you need to watch Planet of the Apes movies in order?
You should watch Planet of the Apes movies in order, at least in their continuities. Like, if you want to watch the original Planet of the Apes movies, then do watch them in order by release date, same with the reboot movies. If you want to watch the whole franchise, we would still suggest the same, watch them all in order by the release date.
Will there be more Planet of the Apes movies?
There certainly will be more Planet of the Apes movies as the fourth movie in the reboot series has been officially announced. In April 2019, following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, Disney announced that future Planet of the Apes films are in development.
In August 2019, Disney stated that any future installments would take place in the universe first established in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. In February 2020, Wes Ball was announced as director of the next film, with Joe Hartwick Jr. and David Starke serving as producers. Ball explained that the story will take place after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes, and continue to follow “Caesar’s legacy”
In June 2022, Ball entered early negotiations to develop two additional films which will complete a new trilogy, and serve as sequels to Rupert Wyatt and Matt Reeves trilogy of films.
