Rod Serling’s Original Planet Of The Apes Script Coming To Comics

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original Planet of the Apes film, Boom! Studios and 20th Century Fox Consumer Products have found Rod Serling’s original screenplay and have adapted it into a comic book.
Set for release in August 2018, Planet of the Apes: Visionaries dives into the first draft of Serling’s adaptation of the French novel La Planète des Singes before the drastic changes that were made before filming. It’s a completely different version than the one that ended up on the big screen. It is adapted by Dana Gould and Chad Lewis.

While the world is the same one that we know, there are a number of key differences. Taylor is Thomas. Ape City is a bustling and urbane metropolis with cars, skyscrapers and a vibrant Ape culture instead of a crude primitive grouping of huts. Apes wear modern clothes, drive modern cars, and rule the late night talk show scene. Everything is changed forever with the arrival of one man, forcing them to alter how they view themselves.
The screenplay is not the only item used to create Planet of the Apes: Visionaries. The original 1966 makeup test and concept art was used as a jumping off point to recreate the classic look and feel. Paolo Rivera illustrated the cover for the book.
Writer Dana Gould says:

Planet Of The Apes meant as much to me growing up as baseball means to most kids. No lie. That I’m now able to be involved with this universe in a creative capacity, much less adapting the original Rod Serling script… I mean, Rod Serling! I am incredibly grateful to BOOM! Studios for this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Artist Chad Lewis adds:

Planet of the Apes: Visionaries is a dream project because it combines my love of retro sci-fi fi and anthropomorphic characters. There’s nothing better than drawing human emotions on gorillas and chimps! Dana has deftly translated these great characters and world into the graphic novel format and it’s a joy to illustrate every corner of the rich universe.

Dafna Pleban, Editor at Boom! Studios comments:

For every Planet of the Apes fan that’s wanted to see what Rod Serling’s original film would’ve looked like and the team on this graphic novel will blow you away. Dana Gould and Chad Lewis having lovingly adapted the ambitious, original plan for Planet of the Apes film into a graphic novel that speaks to the timeless, unflinching themes of the franchise while offering an entirely new vision of familiar faces.

Planet of the Apes: Visionaries is set for release in August 2018.
As a huge fan of the franchise and the stellar work that Boom! Studios has done with the comics, I cannot wait to check this out.