Gareth Edwards, the director of films like Godzilla, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and The Creator, has landed the gig of directing the next film in the Jurassic franchise, Jurassic World: Rebirth. And per his words in the next edition of Empire Magazine, fans can rest assured that he’s trying his best to give them what they want: something that feels in line with the original film.
Not only will Edwards return to the storytelling bones that 2015’s Jurassic World utilized to the joy of critics and audiences alike, the director hopes to bring back the true spirit of Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film, Jurassic Park. That film not only launched the entire franchise, it was at one point the highest-grossing film of all time. Merging the two halves together is what excited Edwards the most. Says the director:
“It goes back to what I loved about the original, with an embarrassment of riches of different set-piece-type scenarios and tense, fun action moments. There were a lot of opportunities as a filmmaker to have a lot of fun and try and play games with the audience.”
The director went on to tease that, “there are certain dinosaurs it would be a crime against cinema not to include.”
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The Jurassic Franchise: Where Another Trilogy Could Go
With a second Jurassic trilogy now closed, where could a third installment of the franchise go in the future? Dominion provided plenty of options.
Does that mean we’re getting a few T-Rexes? Or perhaps the old velociraptors done with practical effects? A slime-spewing dilophosaurus would certainly be cool. In any case, we’ll have to wait until July 2025 to see what Edwards is holding up his sleeve.
Jurassic World: Rebirth stars Scarlett Johansson, Mahersahala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Luna Blaise, David Iacono, and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, among a few others.
Why Does the ‘Jurassic’ Franchise Need an Energy Boost?
We’re saying “Jurassic franchise” and not “Jurassic World franchise” because, in this writer’s estimation, Jurassic World: Dominion was a debacle that didn’t need to happen. Legacy characters returned, but for some reason, they were written as cartoonish, resulting in one-dimensional fodder that audiences consumed because it reminded of something they loved decades ago: A certain blockbuster named Jurassic Park, a film that arguably redefined the rules of commercial cinema.
Jurassic World: Dominion was a blatant attempt to use nostalgia to sell tickets. But it was uninspired. Not even the performers seemed to want to be there, and when a film is unable to cover such feelings, things will not go right. Dominion proved to be the nail in the coffin for the Jurassic World part of the franchise, one that had already started dying with Fallen Kingdom, an inconsistent film that reminded everyone of Spielberg’s sequel to his original film, The Lost World: Jurassic Park. But even Spielberg’s most questionable film didn’t feel like a faux pas in the franchise.
The Jurassic franchise needs a boost and a change of vision. As Gareth Edwards jumped in for Jurassic World: Rebirth, other changes were made that could potentially represent a complete relaunch in terms of characters. No characters from the previous Jurassic World movies are seemingly coming back, and David Koepp, the writer of the first two Jurassic Park films, is back at the writer’s desk. Oh yes, it will be different, but will it be different enough to make the franchise get back on its paws again?
Jurassic World Rebirth
- Release Date
- July 2, 2025
- Cast
- Scarlett Johansson , Mahershala Ali , Jonathan Bailey , Rupert Friend , Manuel Garcia-Rulfo , Luna Blaise , David Iacono , Audrina Miranda , Philippine Velge , Bechir Sylvain , Ed Skrein