Whatever the case, the old baby plot device is used with strength and clarity, and it serves the story well. After multiple cases of babies being stillborn fully aged, Will realizes it’s time to dust off his crackpot theory and put it to the test he was the “someone” in the quote above – but as Robert Plant, not Will Robinson. The human life cycle accelerates exponentially, like some sort of hyper-progeria, so that we die of old age before even leaving the womb. So what’s this mutation? Well, it’s gruesome, but it’s a compelling concept. These tubes happen to be ideal for time travel. All work, no appreciation” – who helps him gain access to the basement, where some flotation tanks are held. Early in the script, Will befriends an apathetic UC Berkeley janitor – “They treat me like shit. The main story, whittled down from Stone’s circular time theory, is this: Will and Diamond go back in time to stop a mutation that was invented by the apes and planted in our genetics like a time bomb. Through evolution – like a time machine.’ “ If you could unlock it, you could physically travel back down it. As Apes fans, are we to deduce that he was friends with the three astronauts from the first film? It’s a stretch, but that’s nothing compared to the plot.įrom : “‘ I can’t recall the details but someone had the idea that mitochondrial DNA was like a genetic memory. I’m also privileged to call them my friends.” And then he shuts off the tape, a look of pain on his face. The only clip we hear is, “I have had the opportunity to work with three talented colleagues. Towards the beginning of the story, Will finds a tape of himself giving a speech, presumably as Dr. And finally, there is an ape whose name is a reference to Zira from the original Planet of the Apes series, except here she is named Zora. Our lead female, Billie Rae Diamond, figures this out, and even laments, “You really were ‘Lost in Space’ weren’t you?” This is after Will has said that the swarms of apes are ‘just like Storm Troopers.’ We also get two Biblical references, with a high priest named Ma-Gog and a little girl named Eve. Possibly tired of getting phone calls from countless Led Zeppelin fans, he changed it to… Will Robinson. In his secret past life, he was a scientist named Robert Plant. He also possesses a piece of silver, which he swears is called ‘ mithral.’ īut it doesn’t stop at Lord of the Rings. Aragorn is a slave to the apes, but among humans he was a leader figure, just like Tolkien’s Aragorn. Hayes has leading apes named Strider and Nazgul, as well as a human named Aragorn. It’s not like two people named John Smith or something. Characters Named After Lord of the Rings and Other Strange Pop-Culture References
Some bizarre pieces were falling into place, so we tracked down a copy of the script to see just how they would have landed.ġ. Jane Hamsher worked with Road Warrior/Beyond Thunderdome screenwriter Terry Hayes, and they were able to produce a screenplay that attracted Arnold Schwarzenegger to star in the leading role. Thus begins the tale of the production of Return of the Apes. “What if time were not linear, but circular, and there was no difference between the past and the future?…And what if there were discovered cryogenically frozen Vedic Apes who held the secret numeric codes to the Bible that foretold the end of civilization?” The execs loved it and cut Stone a check. Finally, Stone stepped in and delivered an idea that Hamsher jokes was an acid flashback. Murphy started floundering and pitching the potential for Happy Meal toys, and was met with embarrassment and dismay. You should talk to him.” A roomful of betrayed executives glared at Murphy. As they were eagerly leaning in to see Stone reveal his master plan for Apes, he said, “Oh, I don’t know, I watched the original films a couple nights ago and they are awful. Murphy was a lifelong fan of the Planet of the Apes series, and sort of haphazardly threw Stone into a meeting with a roomful of studio executives.
(Hamsher recounts these events in her book, Killer Instinct). In 1994, as Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers was being released, his producers Don Murphy and Jane Hamsher were looking for the trio’s next project.