The best way to watch

Key Takeaways

The newest film, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, picks up about 300 years after the previous film, War for the Planet of the Apes.
Before watching the new movie, it might be a good idea to binge-watch the previous films, which are available to stream. The series includes both the original films from the late 1960s to 1970s and the more recent trilogy from the 2010s, with Andy Serkis as Caesar.
I’ve also included where the new movie, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, fits into the chronological timeline.

The first Planet of the Apes film was released 52 years ago. It’s been a huge influence on popular culture and has even spawned nine sequels, a few of which managed to rival the original in terms of critical and box office success.

Disney is betting on the continued success of the film series with a new installment, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. It’s set decades after the most recent entries, which starred Andy Serkis as Caesar, the first ape to gain human-like intelligence. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will revolve around a new ape, Noah, facing off with a new ruthless leader of a burgeoning ape society. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes should be available to purchase online in the near future, as long as it follows Disney’s release schedule for other 20th Century films. It’ll also be available to stream on Hulu eventually, but Disney hasn’t announced a specific date yet.

Of course, the last Serkis-led film came out in 2017, so it might be a good idea to binge them all again before diving in to the new movie.

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Soona and Noa embracing in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

20th Century Studios

Planet of the Apes timeline: The chronological movie order explained

With 10 Planet of the Apes movies all similarly named, it can get really confusing trying to figure out the best order to watch them all.

You could go by the theatrical release date, although I think it’s more fun to watch the films chronologically, as you can watch the events unfold in a beginning-to-end timeline. There are the first five Planet of the Apes films, which were released between 1968 and 1973, and then the three modern movies from the 2010s that star Andy Serkis as Caesar, to go along with the latest film. The Serkis ones are connected to the original five (we explain how below), but to make things complicated, there is a standalone Planet of the Apes movie from 2001 starring Mark Whalberg. It’s a remake.

Confused? No worries. I made sense of this jumbled timeline below.

Spoilers:
Follow this guide to watch the events in the Planet of the Apes movies unfold chronologically as they happened. However, at the bottom, you’ll find a bulleted-list version of this guide — plus additional watch orders, all with absolutely no spoilers.

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1 Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Where it all begins

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

A scientist in San Francisco discovers a drug that can make apes as intelligent as humans while working on a cure for Alzheimer’s.

Director: Rupert Wyatt
Writers: Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver
Starring: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto
Run Time: 105 minutes

The first film on my watchlist sees James Franco star as Will Rodman, a scientist in the near future researching a cure for Alzheimer’s. The film opens when Rodman discovers a baby chimp that’s been exposed to an experimental drug. When the baby’s mother dies, Rodman takes it home to raise, naming him Caesar. Rupert Wyatt directed this film, and Andy Serkis plays Caesar via motion capture. It was written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver.

Make sure you keep an eye out for the news report about the spacecraft Icarus entering the Martian atmosphere — it’s an Easter egg alluding to Charlton Heston’s spacecraft in the original film.

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2 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Caesar leads a thriving ape society

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Caesar is leading an ape society in the forests outside of San Francisco 10 years after the Simian flu wipes out most of humanity.

Director: Matt Reeves
Writers: Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver
Starring: Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman
Run Time: 130 minutes

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes picks up 10 years after the events of Rise of the Planet of the Apes and sees Andy Serkis’ Caesar leading a burgeoning civilization of apes in the Redwood forests outside of San Francisco. Most of humanity has been wiped out by the Simian plague, but remnants led by a man named Dreyfus (played by Gary Oldman) encounter the apes when they enter the forest to repair a Hydroelectric Dam.

Matt Reeves directed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver returned to write the script for this film.

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3 War for the Planet of the Apes

Caesar engages in a final conflict with the last of humanity

War of the Planet of the Apes (2017)

Matt Reeves returned to direct the final film in the Andy Serkis-led trilogy that focuses on the first intelligent ape Caesar and a final confrontation with humanity.

Director: Matt Reeves
Writers: Mark Bomback and Matt Reeves
Starring: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn
Run Time: 140 minutes

War for the Planet of the Apes picks up 2 years later with Caesar still leading his people. The fallout from Koba’s insurrection against him has caused an elite group of soldiers, led by Colonel J. Wesley McCullough (played by Woody Harrelson) to begin hunting Caesar’s apes. Caesar’s only hope to get his family away and stopping further conflict with humans is to cross a vast desert.

Near the end of the film, we see some of Caesar’s friends assure him that the burgeoning ape society he helped create will know everything he sacrificed for them — an important nod that helps explain why another ape will be named Caesar later in the timeline. There are plenty of other allusions that pop in the original films. McCullough’s group of oddly-culty soldiers call themselves the Alpha/Omega, which is the same name of a bomb worshiped by a cult of mutant humans in the 1970’s Beneath the Planet of the Apes. They even use the same insignia seen on the bomb suggesting some type of connection between the two.

Matt Reeves returned to direct this film. He also helped write the movie with Mark Bomback.

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4 Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

A new generation of Apes

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)

Set generations after the events War for the Planet of the Apes, a young ape named Noa must go against a new Caesar who’s leading the apes.

Director: Wes Ball
Writers: John Friedman, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Patrick Aison
Starring: Owen Teague, Freya Allen, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, William H. Macy
Run Time: 155 minutes
In theatres: May 24, 2024

After the success of the most recent trilogy of new films, it was inevitable we’d see more from The Planet of the Apes.

The new film picks up a few generations after Andy Serkis’ Caesar led the apes to safety, and they’re now emerging out into the world in search of the last remnants of human technology. The plot centers around a young ape named Noa (Owen Teague), who must go against a powerful leader named Proximus and adventure into the remnants of human society.

Wes Ball directed the film, while Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver returned to write the script after writing Rise and Dawn. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes has been a roaring success at the box office, which should ensure we’ll be seeing more of the story from the Planet of the Apes. The film doesn’t have a streaming release date yet, but it should premiere to rent and buy online in the near future if it follows Disney’s release strategy for other 20th Century films.

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5 Planet of the Apes

The original sci-fi classic

Planet of the Apes (1968)

The original Planet of the Apes stars Charleston Heston as an astronaut who crash lands on a mysterious planet. It was the sixth highest grossing movie of 1968.

Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Writers: Michael Wilson and Rod Serling
Starring: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter
Run Time: 112 minutes

The fourth film on our list started it all. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, it follows three astronauts as they awake from a crash landing on a mysterious planet. Eventually, one of the astronauts, George Taylor (played by Charlton Heston), is captured by advanced apes. Taylor joins forces with one sympathetic ape, named Dr. Zira (played by Kim Hunter), who studies him. Later, he goes into the Forbidden Zone desert to try to escape the apes holding him captive. That’s when he discovers the truth about the world the apes inhabit.

Franklin J Schaffner also wrote the screenplay for Planet of the Apes with help from Rod Serling of Twilight Zone fame and Michael Wilson. The film is based on a French novel called la Planète des Singes by Pierre Boulles. Planet of the Apes was the eighth highest grossing film of 1968, bringing in 33 million dollars.

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6 Beneath the Planet of the Apes

The last of humanity is worshiping a doomsday device

Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)

Beneath the Planet of the Apes follows a new group of astronauts who are in search of Charleston Heston’s Taylor and the rest of his crew.

Director: Ted Post
Writers:: Paul Dehn and Mort Abrahams
Starring: James Franciscus, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans
Run Time: 95 minutes

An astronaut named Brent (played by James Franciscus) is the only survivor of a ship sent to find the three astronauts from the first Planet of the Apes film. Soon after landing in the Forbidden Zone, Brent meets Nova, Taylor’s love interest from the first film. She is still wearing the astronauts’ dog tags. She brings Brent to the ape city, where he meets Dr. Zira. She tells him about her time with Taylor.

Brent then goes back to the Forbidden Zone and finds an entrance to a New York City subway and a mutated race of humans worshipping a doomsday device. Ted Post took over directing duties for this film while Paul Dehn wrote the script. While it’s kind of been forgotten about in popular culture, Beneath the Planet of the Apes was a success at the box office, bringing in 18 million dollars while being the 16th highest grossing film of 1970.

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7 Escape from the Planet of the Apes

Two apes travel back in time to 1973

Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)

This film follows apes from the two previous films, Dr. Zira and Cornelius, as they venture back in time to 1973’s version of Earth.

Director: Don Taylor
Writers: Paul Dehn
Starring: Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Bradford Dillman
Run Time: 98 minutes

This film is where our apes’ timeline really begins to go bananas. At the conclusion of Beneath the Planet of the Apes, we see the destruction of the planet by the Alpha and Omega doomsday device. However, before that happens, Dr. Zira and her husband Cornelius (played by Roddy McDowall) discover and begin to repair the original ship that brought Taylor to the Planet of the Apes.

The two apes use it to travel to 1973, or when the planet is destroyed. They become celebrities and are at the center of a government investigation as why Taylor’s ship suddenly reappeared with talking apes but no astronauts. Just as the government begins to suspect Dr. Zira hasn’t been truthful to the government, it’s revealed she’s pregnant. She and Cornelius must escape capture to save their child, Milo. Don Taylor directed the film and Paul Dehn returned to write the screenplay.

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8 Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

A new Caesar rises to free the apes

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)

Zira and Cornelius’ child is now a full grown ape named Caesar who leads an uprising among other abused apes.

Director: J. Lee Thompson
Writers: Paul Dehn
Starring: Roddy McDowall, Don Murray, Ricardo Montalban
Run Time: 88 minutes

In the year 1991, Zira’s child is alive and grown-up. He is portrayed by Roddy McDowall, who also starred as Cornelius in the previous film. Anyway, Zira’s child, newly named Caesar, was raised in hiding by Armando (played by Ricardo Montalban), the circus owner she left him with at the conclusion of the Escape from the Planet of the Apes. The film follows Caesar through a dark world in which cats and dogs have died off, and apes have become a common pet and even an abused source of slave labor. Caesar is the only ape who can speak in this world. Eventually, he becomes enslaved, and it leads to an uprising.

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9 Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Apes and humans finally learn to live in harmony

Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

The last of the 70’s Planet of the Apes films sees Caesar working to finally find peace between apes and men.

Director: J. Lee Thompson
Writers: John William Corrington, Joyce Hooper Corrington
Starring: Roddy McDowall, Claude Akins, Natalie Trundy
Run Time: 93 minutes

This film shows an older Caesar (played by Roddy McDowall) leading a society where apes and humans coexist after a nuclear war. But the society is being torn apart by threats from a militant faction of apes, led by Aldo (played by Claude Akins), who wants to make humans subservient. Caesar learns of tapes that exist in the Forbidden Zone that show his mother speaking about how conflict between ape and man caused the destruction of Earth. While in search of those tapes, Caesar also discovers a group of mutated humans, led by Governor Kolp (played by Severn Darden), who view the apes as a threat and set out to destroy them.

Between the tapes of his mother and lessons he learned along his journey to this point, Caesar understands that the only way to prevent the Earth’s destruction is by helping humans and apes to live together in peace, fulfilling the original Caesar’s final wishes. If you really think about it, Zira going back in time even saved humanity from the Simian Flu created by James Franco in the first film in this list.

J. Lee Thompson directed Battle for the Planet of the Apes. John William Corrington and Joyce Hooper Corrington wrote the screenplay.

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10 Bonus: Planet of the Apes (TV series)

CBS series set after the original movies

Planet of the Apes – TV series (1974)

After the success of the 70’s films, a TV spin-off of Planet of the Apes aired for 14 episodes on CBS.

Starring: Roddy McDowall, Ron Harper, James Naughton
Producer: Stan Hough
Production Company: 20th Century Fox TV
Seasons: 1
Number of Episodes: 14

Yes, there is a Planet of the Apes TV series. It was broadcast on CBS in 1974. Featuring just 14 episodes, the series stars Ron Harper, James Naughton, Roddy McDowall, Mark Lenard, and Booth Colman but was canceled after a mere season due to poor ratings. It is based on the 1968 movie Planet of the Apes and its sequels. So, if you want to watch it, we suggest slotting it in after Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973).

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11 Bonus 2: Planet of the Apes

Tim Burton’s vision reimagines the 1968 classic

Planet of the Apes (2001)

Tim Burton directs Mark Wahlberg as a stranded astronaut in this remake of the 1968 original.

Director: Tim Burton
Writers: William Broyles Jr., Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter
Run Time: 119 minutes

Since this much-maligned Tim Burton reboot doesn’t fit anywhere else in the Planet of the Apes series, you should watch it last as a bonus treat. While the film isn’t quite as bad as you might remember, it’s a one-off standalone that bombed when it premiered 20 years ago.

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