Director Matt Reeves took to Twitter to announce filming has commenced on the eagerly anticipated War for the Planet of the Apes. Reeves snapped an image from the set with the tag #It has begun. War marks the third entry in Fox’s massively successful reboot of the venerable franchise, one that for decades increasingly ran out of steam and credibility with inferior sequels and the critically reviled 2001 reboot attempt from director Tim Burton.

In 2011, director Rupert Wyatt (The Gambler) successfully revived the Apes brand. A feat achieved once more when Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In) took over the 2014 sequel Dawn of the Planet of Apes. Both films were box office successes and critically respected; both films also earned Oscar nominations for Best Visual Effects. Reeves returns once more with and shares a screenwriting credit with Mark Bomback (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Unstoppable).

Most importantly, Andy Serkis returns, continuing his critically respected motion capture work as lead ape Caesar. Serkis is by far motion performance capture’s MVP, having cemented his cinematic legacy with his classic turns as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Kong in Peter Jackson’s King Kong remake and his estimable work as Caesar. Serkis has long been ruled as deserving of awards for his performances, something of which would be unprecedented in film history. Serkis is also playing a part in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. Woody Harrelson (Zombieland), Steve Zahn (Dallas Buyers Club) and newcomer Gabriel Chavarria (A Better Life) make out the ensemble cast. Also noteworthy, Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino is set to return to the franchise and score War.

War for the Planet of the Apes is expected to hit theaters on July 14, 2017. Check out Reeves’ tweet below.

#It has begun. @ApesMovies pic.twitter.com/6AZVzWfJXW

— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) October 17, 2015