Claim: Planet of the Apes shot desert sequences in and around Lake Powell.

Planet of the Apes is a 1968 American science fiction film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner . It stars Charlton Heston , Roddy McDowall , Kim Hunter , Maurice Evans , James Whitmore , James Daly and Linda Harrison . The screenplay by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling was loosely based on the 1963 French novel La Planète des Singes by Pierre Boulle . Jerry Goldsmith composed the groundbreaking avant-garde score . It was the first in a series of five films made between 1968 and 1973 , all produced by Arthur P. Jacobs and released by 20th Century Fox .   The film tells the story of an astronaut crew who crash-land on a strange planet in the distant future . Although the planet appears desolate at first , the surviving crew members stumble upon a society in which apes have evolved into creatures with human-like intelligence and speech . The apes have assumed the role of the dominant species and humans are mute creatures wearing animal skins .   The script was originally written by Rod Serling , but underwent many rewrites before filming eventually began . Directors J. Lee Thompson and Blake Edwards were approached , but the film 's producer Arthur P. Jacobs , upon the recommendation of Charlton Heston , chose Franklin J. Schaffner to direct the film . Schaffner 's changes included an ape society less advanced -- and therefore less expensive to depict -- than that of the original novel . Filming took place between May 21 and August 10 , 1967 , in California , Utah and Arizona , with desert sequences shot in and around Lake Powell , Glen Canyon National Recreation Area . The film 's final `` closed '' cost was $ 5.8 million .   The film was released on February 8 , 1968 , in the United States and was a commercial success , earning a lifetime domestic gross of $ 32.6 million . The film was groundbreaking for its prosthetic makeup techniques by artist John Chambers and was well received by critics and audiences , launching a film franchise , including four sequels , as well as a short-lived television show , animated series , comic books , and various merchandising . In particular , Roddy McDowall had a long-running relationship with the Apes series , appearing in four of the original five films -LRB- absent , apart from a brief voiceover , from the second film of the series , Beneath the Planet of the Apes , in which he was replaced by David Watson in the role of Cornelius -RRB- , and also in the television series .   The original series was followed by Tim Burton 's remake Planet of the Apes in 2001 and the reboot Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011 . Also in 2001 , Planet of the Apes was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being `` culturally , historically , or aesthetically significant '' .