With the fourth installment of their hit dystopian horror franchise, creator James DeMonaco and Blumhouse Productions trace the birth of an annual, bloody tradition with The First Purge.

The first trailer for the prequel opens with scenes from the previous films in the $320 million series, beginning with 2013's The Purge, before revealing how the New Founding Fathers of America began the psychological experiment intended to reduce crime.

The footage also introduces new characters played by Lex Scott Davis (Training Day) and Marisa Tomei (Spider-Man: Homecoming).

RELATED: The Purge Producer Jason Blum Forecasts a Violent Future

The official synopsis promises the kind of violence and social commentary that have been a signature of DeMonaco's Purge series:

Behind every tradition lies a revolution. Next Independence Day, witness the rise of our country’s 12 hours of annual lawlessness. Welcome to the movement that began as a simple experiment: The First Purge.

To push the crime rate below one percent for the rest of the year, the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA) test a sociological theory that vents aggression for one night in one isolated community. But when the violence of oppressors meets the rage of the marginalized, the contagion will explode from the trial-city borders and spread across the nation.

Directed by Gerard McMurray from a script by DeMonaco, The First Purge opens July 4.