First War for the Planet of the Apes Trailer Delivers Epic Snowbound Action

The first trailer for War for the Planet of the Apes has arrived. The third movie in the rebooted series of sci-fi action movies is set for release next July, and this teaser promises a truly epic showdown between apes and humans. Check it out below, with the poster and some images at the end of this story.

The movie is directed by Matt Reeves, who also helmed 2014's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. On the simian side, it stars Andy Serkis (King Kong, Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Steve Zahn (The Ridiculous 6, Dallas Buyers Club), and Judy Greer (Ant-Man, Jurassic World), while Woody Harrelson (The Hunger Games, True Detective) heads up the humans trying to reclaim the earth from the apes.

The official synopsis reads: "In War for the Planet of the Apes, the third chapter of the critically acclaimed blockbuster franchise, Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet."

As this year's New York Comic-Con, Reeves spoke about the influences on the film. "One of the first things that Mark [Bomback, co-writer] and I did was watch a million movies," he said, via About.com. "We decided to do what people fantasize what Hollywood screenwriters get to do but no one actually does. We got Fox to give us a theater and we watched movie after movie.

"We watched every Planet of the Apes movie, war movies, westerns, Empire Strikes Back... We just thought, 'We have to pretend we have all the time in the world,' even though we had limited time. We got really inspired."

War for the Planet of the Apes hits theaters on July 14, 2017.

Gallery