Great Caesar's Horse! First Look at Andy Serkis in 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'

I've been a fan of the Planet of the Apes movies since I was a kid. I spent one summer watching all the sequels through the slow process of reserving the VHS tapes from the public library. I even saw the Mark Wahlberg remake in theaters. When Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a hit, exposing a new generation of fans to the iconic franchise, I was thrilled. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, is one of my most anticipated movies for 2014. While I would've loved to see what Rupert Wyatt could have done with the sequel had he stayed on to direct, I'm confident that Matt Reeves will give Planet of the Apes fans something to be proud of. With a cast that includes Andy Serkis, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell and Jason Clarke, it's going to be hard to screw this one up.

On Friday, Reeves tweeted the first official photo from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Serkis (in motion-capture gear) on a horse. For fans of the original movies, this imagery should immediately click. Rise of the Planet of the Apes even touched on it a bit, with Caesar riding a police horse across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes hits theaters on May 23, 2014. Head past the jump to check out the full image of Serkis, Clarke, a few horses and Russell in the background.