| Real World | Original Novel | 1938 Radio Broadcast | 1953 film | 1988 TV Series | Jeff Wayne Musical | 2005 film |
Front cover of the novel (Date unknown)[1]
1897[]
- H.G. Wells publishes a serial tale entitled The War of the Worlds, which details an invasion of Earth by advanced beings from the planet Mars.
1898[]
- Wells releases his War of the Worlds serial as a novel.
- Garrett P. Service writes a serialised sequel to The War of the Worlds for the New York based Evening Journal. Titled Invasion to Mars, the story details the attempts of a group of scientists, among them Thomas Edison, to analyse, and then exploit, the technology used by the defeated invaders. The action centered on a human assault on Mars, and featured aliens that bore no relation to the ones featured in the original story.
1925[]
- Paramount Pictures buy the silent movie rights for Cecil B. DeMille. However, serious work on the film does not begin until after the passing of the silent film era, despite years of planning and the expenditure of $200,000.
1938[]
- 30 October. Orson Welles broadcasts the infamous Mercury Theatre on the Air production of the story.[N 1]
Early 1950s[]
- George Pál takes over production of the film adaptation of the novel, transferring the location from London to Los Angeles, California, updating many of the technological details, and adding a romantic interest for the film's hero, in order to ensure the story will appeal to a wider audience. Production is nearly halted due to the fact that Paramount only held rights for a silent film version of the story, and were forced to renegotiate with an agent of H.G. Welles' estate, in order to gain rights for a talking picture.
1953[]
- The George Pál film adaptation is released, and becomes a classic of cinematic science fiction.
1978[]
- CBS Television comes close to striking a deal for a War of the Worlds television series.
- Jeff Wayne releases a musical version of the story. This storyline of this adaptation is closest to that of the original novel.
2005[]
- Steven Spielberg releases his adaptation.
2019[]
- The BBC release their War of the Worlds mini-series.
Notes[]
- ↑ In the TV series episode "Eye for an Eye", General Wilson states that the broadcast was a dramatised account of the first real battle with the aliens.