A recent USA Today look at summer movies gave the highest 'buzz' rating to Tim Burton's reworking of Planet of the Apes. Entertainment Weekly has reportedly tapped POTA for the cover of their 'Summer Movie' issue, while both Premiere and TV Guide will also feature Burton's Ape movie on their covers. All this advance hype and marketing guarantees nothing, but it's worth remembering that the original Planet of the Apes film pioneered in the sales of licensed tie-in merchandise that included: action figures, comic books, trading cards, lunch boxes, Halloween costumes, board games and more. Topps produced a highly successful series of trading cards for the original film back in 1968, and they are back again with a series of cards based on the new movie that should be in stores two weeks before Planet of the Apes opens on July 27.
fit together
To promote the trading cards Topps will be giving out some 750,000 promotional cards between now and mid-July. Topps is producing four different promo cards, which form a single image when placed together. The card in the upper left is General Attar (played in the film by Michael Clarke Duncan). It will be included in issue #1 of the Dark Horse Comic adaptation of the film (which will be solicited in the April issue of Previews). The chimpanzee warrior featured in the upper right hand card will be given out at science fiction and comic conventions throughout the spring and summer. The ape on the lower left is Krull and he will be available exclusively with the May edition of Previews in which the Topps' cards will be solicited. The evil looking simian in the lower right quadrant is Thade, played by the perpetually hissable Tim Roth. This card will be included in Wizard #117 which goes on sale on April 25.
The Topps cards will be heavily promoted in all the Dark Horse POTA adaptations. The trading card series will include a number of chase cards, including cards signed by actors from the film (Topps will provide a list of signers as soon as they have finalized all the details). Because of the nature of the costumes worn by the Ape warriors, some of the chase cards will definitely benefit from an embossed-foil treatment, which should render the armor in a very lifelike manner. Topps is also planning to simulate the Apes' hairy coats with special fuzzy cards, which should provide a tactile dimension that even the film itself won't have.