New Planet of the Apes Adaptation Revives Rod Serling’s Original Screenplay

The original Planet of the Apes film is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and BOOM! Studios is presenting an intriguing piece of the series’ legend that was once thought to be lost to time.

The publisher, in association with 20th Century Fox Consumer Products, has announced a new original graphic novel titled Planet of the Apes: Visionaries that will be adapted from the original screenplay for the initial film penned by the mind behind The Twilight Zone, Rod Serling. Serling was the first writer commissioned by 20th Century Fox to adapt Pierre Boulle’s novel for the silver screen and his script featured drastic differences from the 1968 science-fiction classic.

“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,” gushed BOOM! Studios editor Dafna Pleban.

Serling’s script featured an entire metropolis rivaling modern New York City, with skyscrapers reaching toward the clouds and apes entrenched in similar cultures to that of the past few decades of human existence, rather than the primitive village depicted in the film. The film’s Taylor is now Thomas, and his arrival in Ape City sparks irreversible changes for man and ape alike.