Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is het vervolg op de sleeper hit Rise of the Planet of the Apes uit 2011 die weer een prequel was op de de bekende Planet of the Apes films uit de jaren 60, want die van Tim Burton zoog anus. De originele films hadden een plot rond om het reizen door de tijd, maar in de Dawn of the Planet of the Apes zal dit niet het geval zijn. Want dit is wat de schrijver Rick Jaffa er over zei in een interview met de website Total Film:

I don't foresee that. But it's interesting you should ask that, because it's the one big element that we made a conscious decision not to explore in the first one, and we were worried that there might be some backlash in the science fiction community because of it. When the story first came together we were very, very excited, and yet before we pitched it, I thought, 'The one thing missing though is time travel. But it's not necessary for this particular telling'. And I don't really foresee it, to tell you the truth.