Editing Franklin J. Schaffner (section)

===Peak===
Schaffner had a huge critical and commercial hit in ''[[Planet of the Apes (1968 film)|Planet of the Apes]]'' (1968) starring Heston at 20th Century Fox.

In December 1968 Schaffner signed a non-exclusive three-picture deal with Columbia.<ref>MOVIE CALL SHEET: Pat Suzuki Signs for Role
Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 20 Dec 1968: f22.</ref>

His next film was for 20th Century Fox, however: ''[[Patton (film)|Patton]]'' (1970), a biopic of [[General Patton]] starring [[George C. Scott]]. It was a major success for which Schaffner won the [[Academy Award for Best Director]] and the [[Directors Guild of America Award|Directors Guild of America Award for Best Director]].

He made ''[[Nicholas and Alexandra]]'' (1971) for producer [[Sam Spiegel]]. It was an expensive box-office failure. Schaffner followed it with ''[[Papillon (1973 film)|Papillon]]'' (1973) a $14 million epic with Steve McQueen and [[Dustin Hoffman]] that was a considerable financial success.<ref>Schaffner Has His Fingers Crossed: Schaffner's Fingers Crossed
HOFFERKAMP, JACK. Los Angeles Times 4 Jan 1974: d16.</ref> In 1971 he said his films "are  almost always about people who are out of their time and place."<ref name="dyn"/>

Schaffner intended to follow ''Papillon'' with ''Dynasty of Western Outlaws'', about outlaws over the years in Missouri from a script by John Gay, and an adaptation of ''[[The French Lieutenant's Woman]]''.<ref name="dyn">McQueen – The Man Who Got Away
By A.H. WEILER. New York Times 26 Dec 1971: D15.</ref> He ended up making neither: ''Dynasty'' was never made, and ''French Lieutenant'' was made a decade later by another director.

Schaffner reunited with George C. Scott in ''[[Islands in the Stream (film)|Islands in the Stream]]'' (1977), based on the novel by [[Ernest Hemingway]].<ref>MOVIE CALL SHEET: The Reteaming of Scott and Schaffner
Murphy, Mary. Los Angeles Times 20 Mar 1975: i16.</ref> He then did ''[[The Boys from Brazil (film)|The Boys from Brazil]]'' (1978) based on a novel by [[Ira Levin]] with [[Gregory Peck]] and [[Laurence Olivier]].