Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Teaser Image[UPDATED] Following on from the huge successes of last year’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, rebooting the well-known franchise for Fox, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is currently set for release in May 2014, continuing what is fast becoming a big franchise opportunity for the studio.

Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) was recently confirmed as taking over from Rupert Wyatt as director on the sequel, and now it looks like the first teaser image from the upcoming film may have debuted online.

Released over on the original film’s Facebook, the image below has since been removed, and it’s not yet known whether it’s because it came out earlier than intended, that it isn’t in fact official, or for another unknown reason.

If it is real, though, it certainly suggests something very interesting for the coming film, particularly when plot details are currently under wraps – the apes are getting smarter. It’s something we could, of course, expect, but very cool to see the beginnings of. And an armed force of apes is certainly something that would continue to set the box office alight in a second film.

Co-writers on the original Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, have already delivered a script, much liked by the studio and producers.

No word yet on who’ll be starring in the human roles, but we know that Andy Serkis is set to reprise his role from the original, which is naturally something to look forward to.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is set to debut on 22nd May, 2014, here in the UK, following a day later in the US on 23rd May, 2014. For now, here’s what appears to be the first teaser image for the coming sequel.

[UPDATE: Alas, it looks like it’s a hoax, with the image actually a piece of photography. Sorry, folks! Arming the apes does sound like a pretty sinister option, though, and we’re really looking forward to hearing more about the sequel when news officially surfaces.]

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Teaser Image