War arrives, and winter with it, in the somber teaser trailer for "War for the Planet of the Apes."

The footage opens with scene that will undoubtedly raise questions even as it evokes nostalgia, as Caesar and some of his apes ride on horseback on a deserted stretch of beach reminiscent of 1968's "Planet of the Apes." Sharing a horse with an orangutan is a human girl, who's featured again later in the trailer.

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The teaser also introduces Woody Harrelson as the Colonel, who's determined to hunt down Caesar and strike a blow against the apes. "All of human history has led to this moment," he says in voiceover. "The irony is we created you, and nature has been punishing us ever since. This is our last stand, and if we lose, it will be ... a planet of apes."

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.

The film picks up two years after the events of 2014’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” with the apes retreating to Muir Woods National Monument north of San Francisco in the aftermath of the killing of Koba by Caesar. In that time, they suffered tremendously at the hands of the Colonel, whom director Matt Reeves says is will to go to great lengths "to create a world where things can be gentle again."

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“But the journey he takes you on is chilling," he cautions in USA Today.

“Caesar, who has had a love for human beings, is now tested beyond measure,” star Andy Serkis says. "The losses of the apes on his side drive him to a really dark place.”

Opening July 14, 2017, "War for the Planet of the Apes" stars Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Karin Konoval, Amiah Miller and Terry Notary.

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