[UPDATE: We've added a new international TV spot with more footage!]

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the sequel to the 2011 release Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which gave the Planet of the Apes sci-fi franchise a fresh boost of energy at the box office, while restoring the faith of many critics and casual moviegoers in the Apes brand. Dawn picks up ten years after Rise, as human civilization has gone to pot across the globe, following the outbreak of the human laboratory-bred "Simian Flu" - giving rise to more intelligent non-human primates, who know finds themselves on the edge of full-out war against humanity for domination of the planet.

Previous Dawn of the Planet of the Apes trailersTV spots, and images have not so subtly hinted that this volatile Cold War ends up heating up in this film, while the newly-released second theatrical preview shows apes and humans alike, collecting their weapons of choice and preparing to head into battle. More interesting, however, are the glimpses at the evolving ape culture in this new trailer; while Casesar (once again played via motion-capture by Andy Serkis) still appears to be the rare ape capable of human speech, we see that his fellow simians are now being taught how to read and write (among other things).

UPDATE: Check out a new international TV spot for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which includes additional footage not featured in the latest trailer:

Lastly, there's a new international trailer that contains a bit more footage that didn't make the cut in the second U.S. trailer:

Whereas the human sci-fi narrative elements were, arguably, the weakest parts of Rise of the Planet of the ApesDawn appears to offer a stronger human narrative - elevated by such talented characters actors as Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty), Gary Oldman (RoboCop), and Keri Russell (The Americans) - along with Caesar's compelling identity struggle, due to him being a child of both worlds. Similarly, the darker color palate and cinematography by Michael Seresin (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) looks quite impressive in the latest trailer footage, suggesting this film could also be an improvement on its predecessors in the technical department as well.

Caesar in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Andy Serkis as Caesar in 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'

Dawn was directed by Matt Reeves, who has already demonstrated that he has a knack for using genre tropes to explore meaningful human stories, with the films Cloverfield and Let Me In. The only wild card factor right now, as I see it, is that the film's shooting script draft was penned by Mark Bomback, whose screenplay contributions in the past have tended to favor empty spectacle over meaningful action and/or story development (see: his revisions for The Wolverine).

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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens in U.S. theaters on July 11th, 2014.

Source: 20th Century Fox