WI: Return to the Planet of the Apes

Emperor Norton I

Emperor Norton I

Planet of the Apes was a major franchise for Fox. From merchandising to sequels, it set precedents for franchising well before Star Wars. Even after the end of the films and the television series', Fox was still looking at ways to exploit the property. One of those was plans for a sequel, reboot or reimagining well before Tim Burton's film.

There were a number of these concepts, and they got stuck in development hell and the incompetence of ever changing studio executives. My personal favorite is the concept of Return to the Planet of the Apes, by Adam Rifkin. The concept started in 1988. It would have been a direct sequel to the original film, and would have disregarded the four sequels that preceded it. It would have featured the apes centuries after the original film, when they are in their Roman empire era. It would have featured Duke, a descendent of Taylor from the original film, and his leading a human slave revolt against the apes.
The project was days away from entering pre-production. Rick Baker would do the prosthetics, Danny Elfman would compose the soundtrack, and Tom Cruise and Charlie Sheen were in contention for the lead role. However, studio executives changed, and there were creative differences. Rifkin did a series of rewrites and the project was abandoned. I'll quote the wikipedia passage below, which also includes Peter Jackson's near reboot of the Rifkin concept. I'll also link to an article on this.

What if Return to the Planet of the Apes did get made?

http://www.wired.com/2012/02/tales-from-development-hell-apes/

20th Century Fox president Craig Baumgarten was impressed with Adam Rifkin's filmmaking with Never on Tuesday. In 1988, Rifkin was brought in the studio to pitch ideas for films. Rifkin, being a fan of the 1968 Planet of the Apes felt it was best to continue the film series. "Having independent film experience, I promised I could write and direct a huge-looking film for a reasonable price and budget, like Aliens."[11] Fox commissioned Rifkin to write what amounted to a sequel, "but not a sequel to the fifth film, an alternate sequel to the first film."[11] He took influences from Spartacus, with the storyline being "the ape empire had reached its Roman era. A descendant of Charlton Heston's character named Duke would eventually lead a human slave revolt against the oppressive Roman-esque apes, led by General Izan. A real sword and sandal spectacular, monkey style. Gladiator did the same movie without the ape costumes."[11]
Titled Return to the Planet of the Apes, the project was put on fast track and almost entered pre-production. Rick Baker was hired to design the prosthetic makeup with Danny Elfman composing the film score. Tom Cruise and Charlie Sheen were in contention for the lead role. "I can't accurately describe in words the utter euphoria I felt knowing that I, Adam Rifkin, was going to be resurrecting the Planet of the Apes. It all seemed too good to be true. I soon found out it was."[11] Days before the film was to commence pre-production, new studio executives arrived at Fox, which caused creative differences between Rifkin and the studio.[11] Rifkin was commissioned to rewrite the script through various drafts. The project was abandoned until Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh pitched their own idea, with the apes going through a Renaissance. In the story, the ape government becomes concerned over the new art works, the humans are revolting and the liberal apes shelter a half-human, half-ape from the gorillas. Roddy McDowall was enthusiastic about their proposal and agreed to play the Leonardo da Vinci-type character they had written for him. However, the executive Jackson spoke to was not a fan of the series and seemingly unaware of McDowall's involvement in the series, and Jackson turned his attention back to Heavenly Creatures.[12]
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Syriac

Emperor Norton I said:
Anyone? It's glorious.
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It is a really cool bit of history! Assuming the movie is good (and it seems like it has a lot of potential to be), it might lead to Rifkin getting to do more directing work (and less of it involving Psycho Cop). Sheen and Cruise were both headed toward big careers either way, so a big success with this film just becomes another feather in their cap, instead of a big break out role.

On a brader, cultural level, sciience fiction was still scene as bit less significant than other genres. With Star Wars having made sci-fi big business in the early part of the decade, and Aliens making a huge profit a few years earlier, if Apes does the same kind of money, it might lead to a slightly earlier cultural embrace of the genre. My dad was 12 when the original Planet of the Apes came out and he was a big fan. He suffered through the sequels, but they got pretty bad. A new Apes movie that ignored the sequels and went right back to what made the original good would be a huge nostalgiadra for people his age, which could bring a lo of 30 year olds who'd "aged out" of sci-fi back into the genre.

Also, ignoring the earlier sequels but keeping the original film in continuity seems like something that has become more common. I think Hollywood studios thought audiences would be confused by that sort of thing at the time. Though Toho had recently done the same with their Godzilla films. Maybe we would see that sort of thing happening earlier, and it won't take until 2000s to get another Superman film after Quest for Peace.
 
Emperor Norton I

Emperor Norton I

Syriac said:
It is a really cool bit of history! Assuming the movie is good (and it seems like it has a lot of potential to be), it might lead to Rifkin getting to do more directing work (and less of it involving Psycho Cop). Sheen and Cruise were both headed toward big careers either way, so a big success with this film just becomes another feather in their cap, instead of a big break out role.

On a brader, cultural level, sciience fiction was still scene as bit less significant than other genres. With Star Wars having made sci-fi big business in the early part of the decade, and Aliens making a huge profit a few years earlier, if Apes does the same kind of money, it might lead to a slightly earlier cultural embrace of the genre. My dad was 12 when the original Planet of the Apes came out and he was a big fan. He suffered through the sequels, but they got pretty bad. A new Apes movie that ignored the sequels and went right back to what made the original good would be a huge nostalgiadra for people his age, which could bring a lo of 30 year olds who'd "aged out" of sci-fi back into the genre.

Also, ignoring the earlier sequels but keeping the original film in continuity seems like something that has become more common. I think Hollywood studios thought audiences would be confused by that sort of thing at the time. Though Toho had recently done the same with their Godzilla films. Maybe we would see that sort of thing happening earlier, and it won't take until 2000s to get another Superman film after Quest for Peace.
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The 1990s would have been a prime time for a reboot. Throughout the 1990s was when a huge wave of 1960s and 1970s nostalgia hit. Assuming the film would come out circa 1990, it would likely do very well, launch a franchise reboot, and re-energize merchandising and tie-ins. A sequel would probably happen if it were successful. Given the way sequels happen, that may be where the series dies once again, and you may only get one or two before it's all over. Where do you go after a human rebellion?

Also, in terms of actors, Schwarzenegger may be an ok candidate. He was part of the (terrible) Oliver Stone concept that followed the OTL failure of this reboot. He's like a bulked up Heston, with a more limited range. Like Heston, he'd get people in the theaters. Unlike Heston, he may handicap what the film is capable of, and it may devolve into an action. Were Arnold on board, it'd be another feather in his cap. Schwarzenegger has made some terrible films, but he clearly loves movies and one liners, and he's always been on board and pressuring for sequels to his franchises.

Roddy McDowall would almost certainly return in some form. He was constantly involved in the franchise, and became it's main star after Heston left it. He was in every production outside of the animated series.

pattersonautobody said:
Planet of the Apes 4 was good :mad:
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I liked the whole series. Not Burton's. And I have yet to see the reboot.
 
Emperor Norton I

Emperor Norton I

A good thing is that we'd likely see a video game. Planet of the Apes didn't have a video game until the Tim Burton reboot. It hasn't had any since. There was an Atari game in the works, but it was stopped while in development. Then again, licensed video games were never that great and the NES era was hit and miss in terms of game quality. We already had an NES version of sorts in the Gameboy Color game.
 

NamelesStatistic

Banned
Emperor Norton I said:
Planet of the Apes was a major franchise for Fox. From merchandising to sequels, it set precedents for franchising well before Star Wars. Even after the end of the films and the television series', Fox was still looking at ways to exploit the property. One of those was plans for a sequel, reboot or reimagining well before Tim Burton's film.

There were a number of these concepts, and they got stuck in development hell and the incompetence of ever changing studio executives. My personal favorite is the concept of Return to the Planet of the Apes, by Adam Rifkin. The concept started in 1988. It would have been a direct sequel to the original film, and would have disregarded the four sequels that preceded it. It would have featured the apes centuries after the original film, when they are in their Roman empire era. It would have featured Duke, a descendent of Taylor from the original film, and his leading a human slave revolt against the apes.
The project was days away from entering pre-production. Rick Baker would do the prosthetics, Danny Elfman would compose the soundtrack, and Tom Cruise and Charlie Sheen were in contention for the lead role. However, studio executives changed, and there were creative differences. Rifkin did a series of rewrites and the project was abandoned. I'll quote the wikipedia passage below, which also includes Peter Jackson's near reboot of the Rifkin concept. I'll also link to an article on this.

What if Return to the Planet of the Apes did get made?

http://www.wired.com/2012/02/tales-from-development-hell-apes/
Click to expand...


That sounds hilarious, I love the idea of Danny Elfman, Tom Cruise and Charlie Sheen all working on one film. It would either be a great flick or a so-terrible-its-good classic.
 
Emperor Norton I

Emperor Norton I

You know what? There was a monkey movie boom circa the 1990s: Congo, Dunston Checks In, Mighty Joe Young, Born To Be Wild, and whatever the dozens of others had to have been. Not to mention tropical adventure films like Jurassic Park or Jungle 2 Jungle or Tarzan. RPOTA could have got in easily on that wave, and it's sequels could have exploited it. There was just some kind of vibe in that decade.
 
Emperor Norton I

Emperor Norton I

This film may well effect Jingle All The Way. Both Schwarzenegger and Chris Columbus had been attached to the POTA reboot (in the form it took after the Rifkin concept fell through). With the film trapped in Development Hell and further delays, Columbus left the project to produce Jingle All The Way, and Schwarzenegger used the delay to jump into that project. So now we're also effecting the career of Jake Lloyd, and therefore the Star Wars prequel. Not to mention anyone else attached to the film. Sinbad kind of disappeared after the film. Side note: the role Sinbad played could have gone to Joe Pesci, but Chris Columbus jumped ahead and cast Sinbad before Pesci could be cast. A bomb like Jingle All The Way would have been the least of Pesci's OTL problems. Even as a critical failure, the film would have been far ahead of Pesci's other output circa that era. After Casino in 1995, Pesci had no film in 1996. In 1997, he had 8 Heads In A Duffel Bag and Gone Fishin', both of which were critical and financial bombs. Jingle All The Way at least made money. Pesci also retired from acting after Lethal Weapon 4 in 1998 -- ostensibly to pursue other interests like singing, but possibly related to critical failures throughout the 1990s. He has popped up sporadically in recent years in a handful of films, but he's mostly retired. And maybe it would not have been a bomb in another universe; it's not really a bad concept for a film.
 
Emperor Norton I

Emperor Norton I

Circa 1990, there were the Planet of the Apes comics produced by Malibu comics. I do wonder how those would be effected by a reboot film series launched around the same time. As I understand it, the Malibu comics played a big role in reigniting POTA fandom. I personally am not a fan of them. I think the artwork is underwhelming, and I don't like what they did with the POTA canon. The stories do not feel proper for the universe, and have a bland 1990s vibe in my opinion. And I hate things like the Ape City miniseries they did, where they portrayed Europe as the apes just moving into the niche once the humans died off and having modern day technology and culture just with apes instead of humans. That was an attempt to make something more like the book, but it's a total violation of the spirit of the films. And on the whole I feel the Malibu comics lack the spirit of Planet of the Apes. Subsequent comics have been much better, but they're always done by smaller comic book companies and don't get the exposure they should, and tend to have limited runs rather than ongoing series. Revolution on the Planet of the Apes, which is set between the last two films, is still not in a collected paperback edition.

SiddFinch1 said:
Sounded interesting. Too bad it didn't happen
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To quote Kor, It would have been glorious.
 
Emperor Norton I

Emperor Norton I

zookeeper said:
Nortan i colected the books you talked abou ti did not like it was only in black and white.:(
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That's another problem. But even besides that, I dislike the artwork. I don't think it's good. And the depictions don't really stay true to the Planet of the Apes. Colored or not, those are the bigger problems. I dislike the stories for the same reason. Just overall it doesn't feel true to the spirit and vibe of the Planet of the Apes.
 

von kressenstein

Banned
I would like to think it would be something good.. However .. I somehow doubt it...

Maybe if they remade conquest and battle ... I would much prefer something more dystopia and dark.. I loved conquest .. I actually liked parts of beneath .. And escape was light hearted fun with serious overtones..

The new apes are good.. And realistic .. The reboot (Tim burton) while not terrible.. Just didn't touch the cords needed ...

i think its possible they could do something with the right cast.. And a damn good script..
 
Emperor Norton I

Emperor Norton I

What the Malibu comics really brought to my mind was the potential merchandising. Per Rifkin, the PR department at Fox was already going nuts with ideas for promoting the film. Given the 1990s era, I'd imagine they go really hard on getting things like a video game, comic books, trading cards, and action figures -- possibly with Hasbro, given they were the big boys of that era. If they went with Hasbro, expect a dozen different variants and play-sets, given those were in vogue in the era. In terms of the comic, I don't know when Malibu got the rights. They may want to go with DC or Marvel. Marvel would be the favorite, given they had done the comics in the 70s. Given Malibu had the rights in 1990, which is when the film would come out around, and also that Malibu had those rights while the POTA reboot was in the planning stages, it may still end up being Malibu.

A Planet of the Apes reboot may also lead to a monkey/ape film boom in the 1990s even bigger than the OTL. It'd resemble the dinosaur film boom of the same era that attempted to cash in on the craze from Jurassic Park. And as I mentioned, there was already a monkey/ape film craze in that era. It makes you feel like there was a void that Planet of the Apes should have filled. And certainly the 90s were a time for 60s nostalgia, which that film would perfectly capitalize on as well.
 
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