Movies Like Planet of the Apes

Looking for movies like Planet of the Apes? Here are 10 films with the same epic sci-fi world-building. We picked each title based on shared tone, themes, and emotional feel.

1. 

   1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

   2011Sci-Fi

   A scientist, played by James Franco, tests an experimental Alzheimer's drug that dramatically boosts the intelligence of a chimpanzee named Caesar, whom he raises at home. It is the origin story the Planet of the Apes franchise had been missing, showing how apes might come to dominate humans. Andy Serkis's motion-capture performance as Caesar makes the apes the emotional center, and the story is more grounded and present-day than the classic films.

   Where to watch Rise of the Planet of the Apes
2. 

   2. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

   2014Sci-Fi

   Years after a virus has devastated humanity, Caesar leads a thriving ape community in the forests near San Francisco while a group of human survivors needs access to their territory. The uneasy peace between the two species, and the factions on each side pushing toward war, is the Planet of the Apes conflict at its most thoughtful. Directed by Matt Reeves, it is darker and more tragic than Rise, playing almost like a war drama.

   Where to watch Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
3. 

   3. War for the Planet of the Apes

   2017Sci-Fi

   Caesar is pulled into a conflict with a ruthless human colonel, played by Woody Harrelson, after a devastating personal loss. It draws the modern trilogy toward the world seen in the original Planet of the Apes, including a mute human girl named Nova as a nod to the classic film. The tone is closer to a war film or a western than an action blockbuster, with long, quiet stretches and heavy themes.

   Where to watch War for the Planet of the Apes
4. 

   4. I Am Legend

   2007Sci-Fi

   Will Smith plays a military scientist who believes he is the last healthy man in New York after a virus turns most of humanity into violent, light-sensitive creatures. Its empty-city imagery and the sense of humans losing their place at the top of the world echo Planet of the Apes. It is a much smaller, lonelier story, built around one man and his dog, and it plays more like a survival thriller.

   Where to watch I Am Legend
5. 

   5. 28 Days Later

   2002Horror

   A bicycle courier wakes from a coma in a London hospital to find the city deserted after a rage virus has torn through Britain. Like Planet of the Apes, it shows civilization collapsing and suggests that surviving humans can be as dangerous as the threat outside. Danny Boyle's film is gritty, frightening horror, shot with a raw, low-budget look rather than the polished spectacle of the Apes films.

   Where to watch 28 Days Later
6. 

   6. Mad Max: Fury Road

   2015Action

   In a desert wasteland, Max, played by Tom Hardy, is caught up in Furiosa's escape from a tyrant who controls the region's water, setting off a relentless chase. The post-civilization setting and the brutal societies that rise after collapse connect it to Planet of the Apes. George Miller's film is almost pure action, with far less dialogue or philosophical debate, but its world-building is just as vivid.

   Where to watch Mad Max: Fury Road
7. 

   7. Interstellar

   2014Sci-Fi

   With Earth dying from crop failure, a former pilot leads a mission through a wormhole in search of a new home for humanity. Its astronauts facing an unknown world and the question of humanity's survival recall the original Planet of the Apes, which also begins with a crew of astronauts lost far from home. Christopher Nolan's film is about family and physics rather than social allegory, and it is far more hopeful.

   Where to watch Interstellar
8. 

   8. Oblivion

   2013Sci-Fi

   Tom Cruise plays a technician repairing drones on an Earth left devastated by war with aliens, until a crashed spacecraft leads him to question what he has been told. Like Planet of the Apes, it builds toward revelations that reframe everything about the world and humanity's place in it. It is a sleeker, more polished science-fiction mystery, with less social commentary and a quiet romantic thread.

   Where to watch Oblivion
9. 

   9. The Last of Us

   2023Drama

   In this series, Joel, a hardened survivor, is tasked with escorting Ellie, a teenager who may hold the key to a cure, across a United States ravaged by a fungal infection. Like the modern Planet of the Apes films, it is a story about what people become after civilization falls, and how loyalty and loss shape them. Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, it is more character-driven, with intense horror moments.

   Where to watch The Last of Us
10. 

    10. Avatar

    2009Sci-Fi

    Jake Sully, a paraplegic Marine, controls an alien body on the moon Pandora and is drawn into the world of the Na'vi as humans prepare to take their land. The theme of a powerful species exploiting another, and of a human questioning which side he belongs on, ties it to Planet of the Apes. James Cameron's film is more of an adventure with a hopeful arc, built around spectacular visual effects.

    Where to watch Avatar