Photo: 20th Century Fox/Everett Collection
It’s hard to believe, but there was a time when movie sequels were a rarity. In the first half of the 20th century, film serials — episodic movies that were more of a precursor to television episodes than films — like Fantomas, The Masked Marvel, and Flash Gordon, were popular forms of entertainment. Proper sequels were typically reserved for the mystery genre, in which movies like Charlie Chan and The Thin Man took their detective skills all over the world. There was little precedent for sequels in 1968, when Planet of the Apes came along. But Apes defied logic: Spawning a remarkable four sequels in the 1970s alone, it became one of the first blockbuster franchises.
Planet of the Apes set itself…
