Superheroes and Star Wars are all the rage at the moment, but let’s not forget the apes. Director Rupert Wyatt successfully revived the Planet of the Apes franchise with the pleasantly surprising Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and director Matt Reeves continued the saga with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which took a cue from the franchise’s long history and played up its socially conscious themes. Reeves returns to direct the third new film, War for the Planet of the Apes, and it looks like our first preview of footage is just around the corner.

Reeves tweeted earlier today that fans of the franchise would do well to tune into Sunday’s episode of The Walking Dead on AMC for a special War for the Planet of the Apes announcement. Will it be merely that—a statement of some kind? Or will we get a first look at the teaser trailer this Sunday? If I had to guess, it would be that we’re in for an announcement of when and where the first trailer will debut, with maybe a brief smattering of footage.


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Every studio in town is angling to get its trailers attached to Star Wars: The Force Awakens on December 18th, and 20th Century Fox already scored one big coup by landing the prime placement for its X-Men: Apocalypse trailer. Could Fox be pulling double duty and also debuting the first War for the Planet of the Apes trailer in front of Star Wars? It’s highly possible.

We don’t know too much about the Dawn follow-up just yet, but Andy Serkis returns in the role of Casear, with Judy Greer also returning as Caesar’s romantic partner and Woody Harrelson and Steve Zahn being added to the cast as newcomers. Dawn actors Jason ClarkeKeri Russell, and Kodi Smit-McPhee don't appear to be returning.


Reeves previously said the story would find Caesar becoming a Moses figure for his people as war with the humans builds to a head, so could we finally be seeing the inciting event that puts the humans down once and for all? Here’s hoping we get a hint wit that first teaser trailer.

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

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Image via 20th Century Fox