When Does "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (2011) Take Place?
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is a science fiction film written by Amanda Silver with Rick Jaffa and Mark Bomback [loosely remaking "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" (1972) by Paul Dehn] and released August 5th, 2011.
It takes place on an alternate timeline of the fictional Planet of the Apes universe in the years:
We know this because, at about three-quarters through the film, an issue of the "San Francisco Chronicle" newspaper dated "Monday, July" with an unclear day number that appears to be "18," followed by "2016" is delivered to a doorstep.
2011 AD & 2016 AD
We know this because, at about three-quarters through the film, an issue of the "San Francisco Chronicle" newspaper dated "Monday, July" with an unclear day number that appears to be "18," followed by "2016" is delivered to a doorstep.
However, this only tells us the last three-quarters of the film takes place in 2016 AD. At about one-quarter into the movie, at the end of a quick montage showing Caesar progressively age, there’s a time setting title card reading “Five Years Later” so the first part of the main action takes place in 2011 AD.
2016 - 5 = 2011.
Very early in the film, after Caesar has grown a bit, the first time setting title card over the footage reads “Three Years Later” so the movie's multi-part prologue takes place 3 years earlier, in 2008 AD.
2011 - 3 = 2008.
The Planet of the Apes Wiki has an examination of the exact setting of the reboot trilogy and its connection to the original five PoTA films.
It is the chronologically first film in the "Planet of the Apes" reboot trilogy, it can be watched at its timeline point, before or after the first film adaptation, "Planet of the Apes" (1968), before or after the second film adaptation, "Planet of the Apes" (2001), or entirely separately.
