Initial release date: May 26, 1970
Studios: 20th Century Fox/APJAC Productions
Plot: An earthing sent to find the astronauts of the original film discovers not only a world of intelligent, talking apes, but an underground cult of grotesque "humans" who are the survivors of a blast years ago.
Cast
James Franciscus - John Brent
Kim Hunter - Zira
Maurice Evans - Dr. Zaius
Linda Harrison - Nova
Charlton Heston - Colonel George Taylor
Paul Richards - Mendez
Victor Buono - Fat Man
James Gregory - Ursus
Jeff Corey - Caspey
Natalie Trundy - Albina
Thomas Gomez - Minister
Tod Andrews - Skipper
Gregory Sierra - Verger
Writer: Paul Dehn (Apes sequels; Murder on the Orient Express - 1974)
Director: Ted Post (Magnum Force; Hang 'Em High)
Rated G (95 minutes)
The 1970 sequel Beneath the Planet of the Apes takes place immediately after the classic original. This is actually the first time I am seeing these sequels!
This sequel is really not that bad. Surely, it's not as great as the 1968 film, Beneath the Planet of the Apes actually dives more into the world of the Apes and its mythology. It does seem like they try to repeat the same story with another astronaut character.
We also get to see some of the remnants of the old human world (which is cool), even though some of the sets used look really fake due to budget limitations. The telepathic mutant people in the latter half of the film adds an interesting touch to the sequel.
There are a couple down sides: such as Charlton Heston only appearing in a few scenes and it's not as intriguing as the first film. And the opening did seem to drag a little since it's pretty much a recap of the 1968 conclusion!
Here are some tidbits for Beneath the Planet of the Apes!
Charlton Heston donated his salary to charity.
The only film in the original series of five that doesn't star Roddy McDowell, who was committed to another project. Archive footage of McDowell as Cornelius is played at the star, and David Watson plays the character in this entry.
Due to the smaller budget of this film, the vast majority of the extras cast as apes (including the ones close to Zira and Cornelius) were pullover masks instead of the famous ape make up.
Originally, there was going to be a scene featuring a half-human/half-ape child. However, the producers were afraid that not only would the scene be too confusing, but that they would also lose their G rating.
Despite the original being a significant success, the budget was slashed for this sequel. It went from $5 million to $2.5 million in one fell swoop. This was mainly due to 20th Century Fox teetering on the brink of bankruptcy following some majorly expensive failures, such as Hello, Dolly! (1969), Star! (1968) and Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). The recruiting of Ted Post as director was instrumental as he was used to minimal budgets and shortened schedules from his work on TV.
This film opened May 26, 1970 at Loew's Beverly Theatre in LA. It ended up being a surprise runaway success and a sequel was rushed into production.
The film grossed $250,000 in its opening week from 4 theaters finishing 9th at the US box office. It reached No. 1 in its 6th week of release with a gross of $863,500. It grossed $19 million at the US and Canadian box office.
According to Fox records the film required $8.1 million in theatrical rentals to break even and by December 11, 1970 had made worldwide rentals of $13.8 million so made a profit for the studio.
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