Rod Serling’s Original ‘Planet of the Apes’ Script Getting Turned Into a Comic Book
Now this is a twist ending.
The screenplay for the original Planet of the Apes from 1968 was credited to Michael Wilson and The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling. Serling wrote the first draft of the film, based on the novel by Pierre Boulle, which is very different than the movie version in a lot of ways. (For one thing, it’s not set on a future version of Earth.) Serling’s initial vision for the Apes never made it to the screen, but now, per The Hollywood Reporter, it’s being turned into a comic book from Boom! Studios called Planet of the Apes: Visionaries:
The Twilight Zone creator was the first screenwriter to adapt Pierre Boulle's novel for the screen, and his draft differs in some important ways from the finished movie — not least of which being that Thomas (not Taylor) discovers an entire modern city filled with apes in a parody of contemporary life, rather than the village seen onscreen. Visionaries uses Serling's screenplay, along with original concept art and makeup tests, as the basis for the graphic novel, with The Simpsons writer Dana Gould and Avengers: Origins artist Chad Lewis responsible for turning it into a complete comic book experience.
This is a must-read, at least as far as I’m concerned. I love Planet of the Apes, I love Planet of the Apes comics (there’s a whole bunch of good ones from Boom! already), and I love Rod Serling stories. Sounds like the perfect way to celebrate (gulp) 50 years of hating every ape I see, from ... well, you know the rest. Planet of the Apes: Visionaries will hit stores in August.