War for the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves revealed over the weekend that production has begun on his sequel to last year's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, with the filmmaker posting the first photo from the set. The image, which the director posted from his official Twitter account, reveals one actor on horseback, while another, who is clearly wearing a motion capture costume, is standing at the horse's side. It hasn't been confirmed whether or not either actor is in fact Planet of the Apes franchise star Andy Serkis.

The director also confirmed a few other details about War of the Planet of the Apes, revealing that Dawn of the Planet of the Apes composer Michael Giacchino will return to craft the score for this sequel. The filmmaker also revealed that he is filming on the Alexa 65mm camera, with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. Unfortunately, he wouldn't divulge any story details yet, but the title certainly teases that the apes, lead by Andy Serkis' Caesar, will be heading to war against the humans.

The cast includes Gabriel Chavarria (Lowriders), whose character was compared to James Franco's Will Rodman in 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes, alongside Woody Harrelson as the human villain and Steve Zahn as a new war ape. Now that production has gotten under way, hopefully 20th Century Fox will release new story details along with a full cast list. Matt Reeves is directing from a script he co-wrote with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes writer Mark Bomback.

The studio has set a July 14, 2017 release date for War for the Planet of the Apes, which is currently the only movie scheduled for release on that date. However, the sequel will be sandwiched between two highly-anticipated productions, Disney's long-awaited sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (July 7, 2017) and Warner Bros.' Untitled Christopher Nolan Movie 2017 (July 21, 2017). The film will also open two weeks before Sony and Marvel's Spider-Man reboot starring Tom Holland, which opens on July 28, 2017.

Unlike Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which took place 15 years after the events of 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes, War for the Planet of the Apes will take place shortly after the events of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Hopefully director Matt Reeves will be sharing many more images from the War for the Planet of the Apes set, so stay tuned for more details and photos as production continues. Are you looking forward to this highly-anticipated sequel?