WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES Trailer

If the tank shot in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes left you slack-jawed, then get ready to have your mind blown by even more simian fighting in its sequel, War for the Planet of the Apes.

As the third film in the reboot series, War has moved past the events depicted in the original films and allows returning director Matt Reeves to blaze his own path to ape supremacy. Caesar, it seems, is still destined to lead the way, but he learned in Dawn that humans and apes are capable of a range of interactions, leaving the temporary reconciliation at the end of Battle for the Planet of the Apes as a plausible ending for the reboot as well.

But this isn’t 1973, and War is part of today’s action-heavy blockbusters that load up on fighting over diplomacy. Massive budgets and CGI technology means Caesar can take a much more active path to victory than in the originals. That puts the pressure on Andy Serkis to get Caesar’s moral complexity across in fewer scenes, and his motion-capture performances have been nothing less than spectacular.

With the equally impressive Toby Kebbell exiting the series after the death of his troubled bonobo Koba, the main antagonist in War looks to be a human military leader played by Woody Harrelson. He’s pushing for a showdown in this trailer, and Caesar will likely be willing to meet him head on after the events of Dawn. War, it seems, is truly upon them.

War for the Planet of the Apes is directed by Matt Reeves and stars Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, and Judy Greer. It will be released in the U.S. and the U.K. on July 14th, 2017. For international release dates, click here.

Do you think War will live up to the action-packed success of Dawn? Let us know in the comments!