FAQ

Between the events of Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the Simian flu decimates humankind. In the film, they subtly let the viewer know it's been about 10 years between the events of both films. You can see what happened in the mean time in the series of short films from Motherboard and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes here.

The film picks up 10 years after Rise of the Planet of the Apes as stated by director Matt Reeves and stars Jason Clarke, Keri Russell and Andy Serkis at San Diego Comic-Con 2013. So the film is set in 2028. Though the trailer says 8 years later, Dreyfus who says the 8 years may have been skipping the first two years and talking about the 8 years that followed. The film's official Website says that the film will take place in 2026 not 2028 like predicted. Also, in the beginning of the movie, a clip is shown of U.S. President Obama making a short statement during the spread of the virus. He would have been President up to 2016 and early 2017, thereby confirming that the movie takes place 10 years after 2016, in 2026. Dreyfus says early in the movie, "We spent 4 years fighting that virus. Another 4 fighting each other...", and Maurice mentions that it's been "Ten winters" since the outbreak and there's been no sign of humans for the last two. So that suggests there's been 2 years of peace among humans.

Their exact fate is unknown. It would appear that Will (James Franco) and Caroline (Freida Pinto) from Rise are dead. At one point Caesar returns to Will's house and finds it still decorated as he left it meaning that Will did not move away before it was abandoned. There is a FEMA sign on the front door (the large, orange X) indicating that either one or both became sick. Only Will is seen in the film and just in recorded footage.