Dawn of the Planet of the Apes trailer shows first signs of war between apes and man

The sequel to 2011’s surprise hit Rise of the Planet of the Apes hits theaters in just a few months, and a trio of new teasers for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes suggest that the world has changed a lot since the events of the first film.

Set nearly a decade after the events of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, director Matt Reeves’ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes unfolds in a world ravaged by the “Simian Flu” introduced in the previous movie. With humanity reduced to small groups of survivors in an uneasy truce with the hyper-intelligent apes that now populate the world, the onset of war between the two species alters the balance of power even further.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes hits theaters July 11, and stars Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Enrique Murciano, Kirk Acevedo, and Judy Greer. The film is directed by Matt Reeves (Cloverfield).

Updated on 5-08-2014 by Rick Marshall: We’ve added a new trailer to this list, which has a lot of new footage of the apes living and confronting humans.

New trailer shows how the apes have changed

In a brand new trailer for the upcoming film that arrived online today, we get a look at how much the apes have changed — and how fragile the balance of power is in this new world.

Packed with new footage from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the new trailer explores the evolution of Caesar’s simian family — and heirs — as the apes are shown riding horses, writing, and communicating in rough, spoken English. Clearly, the apes have carved out a decent life for themselves in the forest, far from the remnants of the human civilization.

Things aren’t going so well for the survivors of the “Simian Flu,” however, with the human characters seen living in the aforementioned rundown cities, fighting to survive and rebuild. While some survivors blame the apes for their current situation, others are seen making an attempt to connect with their simian neighbors — particularly a character played by Zero Dark Thirty actor Jason Clarke, who appears to develop a friendship with Caesar and the apes.

Still, the inevitable conflict between man and ape soon follows, and following the sound of a single gunshot, the trailer closes with scenes of hundreds of apes — some armed with rifles, some mounted on horses, others running, jumping, or climbing — invading a city while humans attempt to fight them off. The trailer closes with a shot of Caesar announcing, “Apes! Together! Strong!”

Teaser Clips

These brief teasers for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (which you can watch below) offer a glimpse of how much the world has changed in 10 years using time-lapse photography of New York City, San Francisco, and London during the events of the franchise. The deteriorating landmarks hint at the collapse of civilization in the time since Caesar and his apes escaped into the Redwood Forest and the deadly virus spread throughout the world.

Article originally published on 5-07-2014.