4. Charlton Heston tried to kill the franchise
Planet of the Apes was a big success for 20th Century Fox, so of course there was plans to make a sequel. The studio were not keen on Rod Serling’s pitches so they hired the novel’s writer Pierre Boulle, who drafted a movie called Planet of Men in which Taylor would lead an uprising of humans against the apes.
However, Charlton Heston was not keen to return for the sequel – and looked for a way to kill his character and the franchise. The compromise was to re-write the script, now titled Beneath the Planet of the Apes, which saw another astronaut looking for Taylor and discovering an underground race of mutants who worship the bomb.
Heston agreed to feature in the movie if it would be shot in a two week period, his pay went to charity and his character was killed off. His last wish was discussed in the documentary Behind the Planet of the Apes where Heston said, “Why don’t I just set off this bomb and destroy the world. That’s the end of the sequels”.
Taylor did set off the bomb, but it wouldn’t end the sequels. They would have to prise those from Fox’s cold dead hands.
Originally published July 17, 2014. Updated April 15, 2018.
