The film was entirely shot on location in New York City.The exploitational film was initially released in mid-December of 1977 with an R-rating, but then to make the film available to younger audiences and also for television, the dark film was re-edited (mostly by editing out six minutes of footage) and released with a PG rating in March of 1979, without the coarse language and explicit sex scenes (such as Stephanie""s attempted rape and he topless dancer).The virus was raced back to a San Francisco biotech lab, Gen-Sys.Because of he widespread pandemic disease, only 1 in 500 individuals survived.All normal functions ceased, martial law became rampant, and civil unrest broke out.Nuclear power failures caused a massive meltdown and millions of deaths.Civilization collapsed.The title screen.10 years later.The film officially opened with a pull-back from a close-up view of the face and eyes of Caesar, he lead chimpanzee (with vertical white stripes around his mouth), surrounded by dozens of other evolved, highly-intelligent apes (a new generation) who were living as a colony within Mt.George Eastman.George: Who says that?Alice: Oh, everybody.Everybody knows they put you in with us to learn the business.George: I wouldn""t be too sure of that.She believes he was put in the lowly assembly area o learn the business and make his way up the management chain up o the front office.Plot SynopsisAfter the credits and the brief introduction of characters, he film opens with a shaky aerial view of mid-town Manhattan, presumably near 42nd Street.