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Still from Planet of the Apes (2001)
Spin-off · by Priya Nair

Planet of the Apes 2001: Cast, Plot and Ending Explained

Planet of the Apes 2001 is a standalone spin-off directed by Tim Burton and released in the US on July 27, 2001, with Mark Wahlberg as Captain Leo Davidson, Tim Roth as Thade and Helena Bonham Carter as Ari. It is the sixth film in release order and the franchise's only spin-off. It runs 120 minutes and grossed $362 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo, on a $100 million budget. It stands apart from both the original five films and the modern run that begins with Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Image: TMDB
Planet of the Apes (2001) theatrical poster
US release
July 27, 2001
Runtime
2h 0m
Rating
PG-13 / 12 / M
Director
Tim Burton
Budget
$100 million
Worldwide
$362 million

Planet of the Apes Trailer

Planet Of The Apes | #TBT Trailer | 20th Century FOX

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes sequel trailer

What Is Planet of the Apes 2001 About?

Planet of the Apes (2001), directed by Tim Burton, follows Leo Davidson, an air force pilot who crash lands on a distant planet where intelligent apes rule and humans are hunted and enslaved. Leo works on a space station where apes are trained for missions. When a chimpanzee pod vanishes into an electromagnetic storm, he follows it and ends up on a world that reverses the order he knows.

Leo is captured along with other humans and meets two chimpanzees who stand at opposite ends of the argument. Ari sympathizes with humans and opposes how they are treated. General Thade is brutal, and he commands the army that keeps the order in place.

If you know planet of the apes 1968, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, the premise will feel familiar, but Burton builds his own world around it, with its own cast and its own characters. Taylor in 1968 crash lands after a long voyage, whereas Leo arrives by chasing a lost test chimpanzee into a storm. As a spin-off, the film sits sixth by release and tenth chronologically in the planet of the apes movies in order.

Planet of the Apes 2001 Cast and Characters

Planet of the Apes cast

More of the cast: Deep Roy (Gorilla Kid / Thade's Niece), Jay Caputo (1st Ape Teenager / 2nd Ape Soldier), Mark Christopher Lawrence (Friend at Leo's Party), Philip Tan (2nd Ape Teenager / Gossiping Male Ape), Kevin Grevioux (Limbo's 1st Handler / Ape Commander / 2nd Ape Soldier), Chris Ellis (Commander Karl Vasich), Isaac C. Singleton, Jr. (Limbo's 2nd Handler / 1st Ape Soldier), Charlton Heston (Zaius (uncredited)), Linda Harrison (Woman in Cart).

Planet of the Apes Stills

  • Still from Planet of the Apes (2001)
    Planet of the Apes (2001), still 1

Release Dates

MarketDateSource
USJuly 27, 2001reportedboxofficemojo.com
UKAugust 17, 2001reportedthe-numbers.com
AUAugust 9, 2001reportedthemoviedb.org

Where to Watch Planet of the Apes

MarketSubscriptionRent or buy
USHuluAmazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
UKDisney PlusApple TV Store, Rakuten TV, Amazon Video, Sky Store, YouTube
AUDisney PlusApple TV Store, Amazon Video, YouTube

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, checked 2026-11-03.

Tim Burton and the Crew Behind the Film

DirectorTim Burton
WritersLawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal, William Broyles Jr.
ProducersRichard D. Zanuck
MusicDanny Elfman
CinematographyPhilippe Rousselot

Box Office

Budget$100 million
Domestic (US and Canada)$180 million
International$182 million
Worldwide$362 million
Worldwide, in September 2026 dollars$689 million

Planet of the Apes box office for every film.

Planet of the Apes (2001) Soundtrack and Score

Danny Elfman composed the score for Planet of the Apes (2001), directed by Tim Burton, and the music was released on "Planet of the Apes: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" by Sony Classical on July 23, 2001.

That album is a score release with 15 tracks, so it presents Elfman's film music as a single body of work. It is the only album tied to the film, and Sony Classical is its only label. If you are looking for the music of this remake, that one release is the place to start.

What about songs? No featured songs are credited for Planet of the Apes (2001), whether written for the film or licensed from elsewhere. The film's musical identity therefore rests on Elfman's score alone, and there is no track list of songs to match against particular scenes. In my opinion, that makes the album a cleaner listen than many soundtracks, because every one of its 15 tracks comes from the same composer and the same job.

The film is also a standalone remake, separate from the original five films and the modern run that began with Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Cinvibe covers the music of every film in the series on the planet of the apes soundtrack page.

Planet of the Apes: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack album cover

Planet of the Apes: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Score album · Sony Classical · July 23, 2001 · 15 tracks

Cover art via Deezer

Full tracklist

  1. 1Main Titles · Danny Elfman3:50
  2. 2Ape Suite #1 · Danny Elfman3:53
  3. 3Deep Space Launch · Danny Elfman4:35
  4. 4The Hunt · Danny Elfman4:58
  5. 5Branding the Herd · Danny Elfman0:48
  6. 6The Dirty Deed · Danny Elfman2:28
  7. 7Escape From Ape City / The Legend · Danny Elfman5:58
  8. 8Ape Suite #2 · Danny Elfman2:42
  9. 9Old Flames · Danny Elfman2:10
  10. 10Thade Goes Ape · Danny Elfman2:37
  11. 11Preparing for Battle · Danny Elfman3:27
  12. 12The Battle Begins · Danny Elfman5:17
  13. 13The Return · Danny Elfman7:19
  14. 14Main Title Deconstruction · Danny Elfman4:22
  15. 15Rule the Planet Remix · Danny Elfman4:03

Sources: musicbrainz.org, themoviedb.org

Planet of the Apes soundtrack

Planet of the Apes 2001 Plot Explained in FullSpoilers

The full plot of Planet of the Apes 2001 runs from Leo's capture to a final twist in Washington, D.C. After the crash, Leo is taken prisoner with other humans. Ari buys some of them and takes a particular interest in Leo, which sets up the uneasy alliance that drives the middle of the film.

Leo escapes with a group of humans, and General Thade leads the gorilla army in pursuit. Leo's aim is simple: find his lost ship and a way home. The chase leads to a forbidden temple called Calima.

Inside, Leo discovers that Calima is his own crashed space station, the Oberon, and that the passage of time has carried him far into the future. The reveal recasts his whole journey.

Apes and humans then clash in battle at the site. The fighting stops when the pod carrying the chimpanzee Pericles arrives and the apes treat him as a revered figure. Leo uses the pause to leave in Pericles' pod and travels back through the storm.

He crash lands in Washington, D.C., but the city is not the one he left. The Lincoln Memorial now honors Thade, and he realizes that apes rule Earth.

Premiere, Release Dates and Where to Watch Planet of the Apes 2001

Planet of the Apes 2001 opened in US theaters on July 27, 2001, in Australia on August 9, 2001, and in the UK on August 17, 2001. The US date comes from Box Office Mojo, the UK date from The Numbers and the Australian date from TMDB. The film is rated PG-13 in the US, 12 in the UK and M in Australia.

The film cost $100 million to make and earned $180 million domestically and $182 million internationally, for $362 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. That puts it well above anything in the original run: planet of the apes 1968 was made on a far smaller budget and earned a fraction of the 2001 total. It trails every film of the modern run, though, since Rise, Dawn, War and Kingdom all finished ahead of it worldwide. The full table is on the planet of the apes box office page.

As for streaming, in the US the film is on Hulu with a subscription, and can be rented or bought from Amazon Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube and Fandango At Home. In the UK and Australia it is on Disney Plus, with rent or buy options from Apple TV, Amazon Video and YouTube, plus Rakuten TV and Sky Store in the UK. These listings were checked on November 3, 2026 through JustWatch data on TMDB and change often, so see where to watch planet of the apes for the current table.

Planet of the Apes 2001 Ending ExplainedSpoilers

The ending of Planet of the Apes 2001 shows Leo returning to a changed Earth where apes are in charge, with the Lincoln Memorial now honoring Thade.

Leo flies away from the ape planet in Pericles' pod after the fighting stops. He lands in Washington, D.C., but ape police surround the scene, and the Lincoln Memorial now shows Thade. The film stops on that image, which tells the audience that apes rule the Earth he has come back to.

How did it happen? In my reading, the film points to a cause and effect loop that it never fully spells out. Leo reached the ape planet through the storm, found that its forbidden temple Calima was his own station, the Oberon, and then returned through the same storm. Because time had carried him far into the future, his trip appears to have altered the world he came from. This is an interpretation, since the film gives no explicit mechanism.

It could be argued that this is the film's central difference from 1968, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. That film lands its twist on what has already happened, whereas Burton's version lands its twist on what Leo may have caused, and leaves the viewer with an open question rather than an explanation. Paradoxically, the Thade statue is a quieter shock than a grand reveal, because it asks for one second of recognition and then ends.

For how the three runs of films relate, see planet of the apes original vs reboot.

Where Was Planet of the Apes 2001 Filmed?

Most of Planet of the Apes 2001 was filmed in Culver City, California, at Sony Pictures Studios. Principal photography ran from November 6, 2000, to April 2001, and it began at Lake Powell on the Utah and Arizona border.

Further locations were Hawaii, where lava plains were used, and the Trona Pinnacles near Ridgecrest, California.

The modern run used different ground. Rise of the Planet of the Apes was shot around Vancouver and in Oahu, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes used outdoor locations for much of its shoot, War for the Planet of the Apes filmed in British Columbia, and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was shot around Sydney.

Planet of the Apes 2001 Trivia

The strongest piece of trivia about Planet of the Apes 2001 is how long the project took to get made. It started in 1988 as Adam Rifkin's Return to the Planet of the Apes, and went through several other drafts before Burton's version.

  • Principal photography ran from November 6, 2000, to April 2001.
  • Gary Oldman was first cast as Thade but dropped out for financial reasons. Oldman later appeared in the series as Dreyfus in Dawn.
  • Mark Wahlberg left a commitment to Ocean's Eleven to take the lead role.
  • Tim Burton preferred chimpanzees over an albino gorilla design for Thade.
  • Some Starship Troopers helmets were reused for the gorilla SWAT team in the final scene.

The Oldman detail is a neat link between eras, since the actor who nearly played Thade in 2001 went on to play a human leader in the modern run.

Facts

FAQs

What city was Planet of the Apes (2001) filmed in?

Most of Planet of the Apes (2001) was filmed in Culver City, California, at Sony Pictures Studios. Principal photography ran from November 6, 2000, to April 2001 and began at Lake Powell, with further work in Hawaii and at the Trona Pinnacles near Ridgecrest, California.

Who played the orangutan in Planet of the Apes (2001)?

In the most recent film, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024), Peter Macon plays Raka, the wise orangutan who helps the young chimpanzee Noa. In Planet of the Apes (2001), David Warner plays Sandar and Kris Kristofferson plays Karubi.

Is Planet of the Apes 2011 a reboot?

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) is the first film of the modern run, which stands apart from the original five films and from Planet of the Apes (2001). It is seventh in release order and first in chronological order, ahead of Dawn, War and Kingdom.

Is Planet of the Apes considered racist?

Planet of the Apes (2001) puts apes in charge of a society that hunts and enslaves humans, with Ari opposing the treatment and Thade enforcing it. Viewers read that reversal as a comment on prejudice and slavery in different ways, and the film offers no single official answer. Its ending, with apes ruling Earth, leaves the question open.

Where can I watch Planet of the Apes 2001?

In the US, Planet of the Apes 2001 streams on Hulu and can be rented or bought on Amazon Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube and Fandango At Home. In the UK and Australia it is on Disney Plus. Availability was checked on November 3, 2026.

What happens at the end of Planet of the Apes 2001?

Leo Davidson leaves the ape planet in Pericles' pod and crash lands in Washington, D.C. There he finds the Lincoln Memorial now honors Thade and ape police on the scene, so he realizes apes rule Earth.