Was the original Planet of the Apes a sci-fi classic

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A.� The 1968 original was very much a sci-fi classic of its era. Based on a novel by Pierre Boulle,�it starred a bare-chested Charlton Heston as a bitter US astronaut who hurls himself into space to escape man's inhumanity to man and ends up on a planet ruled by talking apes, which turns out to be the very place he is fleeing from - Earth. The film was an instant success and eventually spawned four sequels and a couple of television shows before its demise in 1981.

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Q.� Who has directed the remake version and when is it released

A.� The film film, which opens in the UK on August 17, was directed by Tim Burton, the man behind the first two Batman films, A Nightmare before Christmas and Sleepy Hollow. Twentieth Century Fox, which produced the original, had been trying to get a new version off the ground since 1993 when Oliver Stone was interested in the idea. Fox says the film is niether a remake nor a sequel - the film is a 'reimagining' of the ape world.

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Actor Mark Wahlberg is the astronaut who crashlands onto a planet where man is subserviant to talking apes. Tim Roth and Helena Bonham-Carter endured three-hour make-up sessions to turn themselves into the animal residents. Charlton Heston makes a brief but amusing appearance, this time as an ape.

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Q.� How has the movie been received in the States

A.� The film took an estimated $70 million during its opening weekend, $20 million more than Jurassic Park III's opening weekend. The film has been massively hyped in the States and has attracted record attendances.

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Q.� Is the story the same as the original

A.� Essentially it is still the story of the astronaut crash-landing on another planet, but the film is visually very different from the 60s classic. There are far more action sequences in this summer's release, including a themepark thrill ride.

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By Katharine MacColl

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