War for the Planet of the Apes final trailer teases the end of mankind itself

'I did not start this war, but I will finish it'

The new trilogy of Planet of the Apes prequels comes to a conclusion with the end of Caesar's story and War for the Planet of the Apes.

The final trailer for the film teases the idea that this last chapter also heralds the end of mankind itself, as two rival species go head-to-head in an all-out battle for survival. "I did not start this war," Caesar (Andy Serkis) menaces, as he faces off against the Colonel (Woody Harrelson). "But I will finish it."

The assumption is that the film will, in some ways, bridge the gap to the 1968 original, though producer Peter Chernin seemed to hint the ties may be a little more subtle than expected.

"Part of it, inevitably, we wanted to lead towards a place where the first original Planet of the Apes movie started," Chernin told Den of Geek. "Not necessarily in an obvious way, but hopefully we’ll surprise people with that."

“But I think from the moment we started this trilogy, we always had our eye on that original series of movies, both because we love them as filmmakers, but also, we've always wanted to acknowledge that those movies existed."

"So I think we've always in some ways tried to two things with the films," he added. "Which is on the one hand tip our hat to the original series of the movies, and pay homage to them, and then at the same time do satisfying, important, meaningful standalone stories."

War for the Planet of the Apes hits UK cinemas 14 July.