2001: A Space Odyssey (film) Dawn" inspired the film's "Dawn Of Man" sequence. Kubrick and Clarke privately referred to the project as "How the Solar System Was Won", a reference to MGM's 1962 Cinerama epic "How the West Was Won". On February 23, 1965, Kubrick issued a press release announcing the title as "Journey Beyond The Stars". Other titles considered include "Universe", "Tunnel to the Stars", and "Planetfall". In April 1965, eleven months after they began working on the project, Kubrick selected "2001: A Space Odyssey"; Clarke said the title was "entirely" Kubrick's idea. Intending to set the film apart from the "monsters-and-sex" type of
Interpretations of 2001: A Space Odyssey "The cyclical evolution from ape to man to spaceman to angel-starchild-superman is complete". The monolith appears four times in "2001: A Space Odyssey": on the African savanna, on the moon, in space orbiting Jupiter, and near Bowman's bed before his transformation. After the first encounter with the monolith, we see the leader of the apes have a quick flashback to the monolith after which he picks up a bone and uses it to smash other bones. Its usage as a weapon enables his tribe to defeat the other tribe of apes occupying the water hole who have not learned how