We first learned about the production of Rupert Wyatt's Planet of the Apes prequel since it began the casting process last year. But interest has remained relatively low.

As production has recently begun to ramp up, so has the interest level of potential audiences, including ours, specifically as a reaction to the single 4 second clip released a few days ago that ever so briefly showed one of the apes, sitting, as if contemplating his next human-like move.

Then yesterday, on the film's Facebook page, was released a WETA Livestream video that featured more details of the production and interviews with principals including Andy Serkis who provides the live action capture for lead male ape, Caesar.

Time shift to this morning when WETA, the outfit behind the special effects that will digitally create all the film's hundreds of apes via the same motion-capture technology used in Peter Jackson's interpretation of King Kong back in 2005, released the film's first teaser trailer. More plot details are revealed, and we get a lot more hairy ape-action as the trailer begins by revealing to us that some scientific research has not only shown promise as a cure for Alzheimer's in primates,  but also has produced an increase in intelligence. And that's where things begin to go horribly awry.

The film stars James Franco, Tom Felton, Freida Pinto, Andy Serkis, Brian Cox and John Lithgow. It is a sort of prequel to 1968's classic Planet of the Apes that gives us the lead in as to how the apes began their takeover of mankind. As the subject of genetic testing to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease, the leader of the apes, Caesar (Andy Serkis) gains superior knowledge and gathers his fellow apes in a battle for supremacy.The film is scheduled for a release later this year in August

The trailer is available in HD over at Apple, but you can watch it below. You'll also find some concept art that features illustrations of many of the film's ape battles.