Planet of the Apes In 1999, Fox hired William Broyles, Jr. to write a new script. Fox insisted on a July 2001 release date, but otherwise offered Broyles considerable creative license. This prospect attracted director Tim Burton, who hoped to do a "re-imagining" of "Planet of the Apes". Burton found the production arduous, largely due to Fox's strict release schedule. The studio budgeted the film at $100 million, meaning Broyles' ambitious script had to be altered to reduce costs; Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal worked on rewrites even as the film entered production. The tight schedule meant all stages of production were rushed. The
Planet of the Apes (1968 film) 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". As of 2018, Lou Wagner and Linda Harrison are the last surviving principal cast members. Astronauts Taylor (Charlton Heston), Landon (Robert Gunner) and Dodge (Jeff Burton) are in deep hibernation when their spaceship crashes in a lake on an unknown planet after a long near-light speed voyage, during which they aged 18 months due to time dilation