UCI at the Movies

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes films on campus, 1972.

UCI's connection with the entertainment world began even before the first buildings were finished or students began attending classes. In 1965 NBC-TV produced the documentary Birth of a Campus: The UC Irvine Story. Chancellor Daniel Aldrich's fluid commentary on the campus's beginnings and aspirations, together with striking images of open fields being turned into buildings under construction, conveyed a palpable sense of excitement and new possibilities.

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, the first feature film shot on campus, took advantage of this visual contrast. UCI's Brutalist architectural style and still-barren landscape fulfilled the director's image of a post-nuclear future. In the years since the simian invasion, UCI has also hosted several other feature film companies: