If you reverse the roles of humans and apes on earth, what you get is a planet of apes. Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) is an astronaut working at Space Station. Once he meets an accident on his mission and gets trapped on a wormhole leaving him to a strange planet rules by apes. The apes are much bigger, stronger, and more intelligent than the human race there and the rule over humans with an iron fist. He comes across an activist Ari (Helena Bonham) (who probably works for AETP: Apes for the Ethical Treatment of People) and a group of rebellious humans who try to escape the ruthless Gorilla Army of General Thade (Tim Roth) and Attar (Michael Clarke Duncan). He leads them to a sacred temple which unlocks the secrets about the origin of such an intelligent ape race and the past of humans.