Haven't Felt Like Killing Yourself Lately? These 'Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes' Prequel Videos Will Fix That Right Up

Oh God, what did I just watch? *Shudder* Okay so,”Dawn of the Planet of the Apes‘ will hit theaters this weekend and of course more and more promotional material is surfacing. I just… kinda wish this batch didn’t. At any rate these three promo prequels have surfaced that take place after ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ at different points in time. The first is set one year into the outbreak of the Simian Flu which will wipe out most of humanity and therefore pave the way for these suddenly advanced apes to come to power. The next is set five years later and the third takes place ten years later and sets the stage for ‘Dawn’.

I must point out that these shorts were not directed by Matt Reeves, who helmed ‘Dawn’ but they do seem to mirror the “horror” tone of the actual movie. The shorts were a collaboration of 20th Century Fox and VICE’s Motherboard to bridge the 10 year gap between the films ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ and ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,’ much like the novel ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm’ by Greg Keyes did.

First up we have the “one year later” clip:

Spread of Simian Flu: Before the Dawn of the Apes (Year 1)

Amidst a widespread viral outbreak known as the ‘Simian Flu’, a mother is quarantined after testing positive for the virus, leaving her husband and daughter to fend for themselves. Directed by Isaiah Seret

I just want to know what happened to the dog.

Next is the 5 years later clip:

Struggling to Survive: Before the Dawn of the Apes (Year 5)

Five years after the Simian Flu all but wiped out humanity, an orphaned teenage girl survives by bartering things she has stolen from dead people’s homes. Directed by Daniel Thron.

Dead yet? Nah. Well, if you can stand it, here’s one more soul destroying short film:

Story of the Gun: Before the Dawn of the Apes (Year 10)

Directed by “thirty-two.” (Guess Ke$ha isn’t the stupidest name around any more.) Follow the journey of a shotgun through the hands of several ill-fated owners as the ‘Simian Flu’ ravages the world around them.

Aaaaaaaaaand there’s one more. Salt? Meet wound.

‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ and the three shorts above actually inspired the Motherboard documentary ‘Island of the Apes’ aka ‘The Real Planet of the Apes’ where a crew traveled to a remote area in Liberia called “Monkey Island” which is inhabited by former lab-tested chimpanzees and is a place where the locals genuinely fear to go. You can check out the full documentary below: