New ‘Jurassic World’ Movie Is Going Back to Its Roots in a Major Way

Is it time for a redemption arc for the Jurassic franchise? The last installment in the series, Jurassic World: Dominion, was a critical disaster, getting a mere 22% for its Rotten Tomatoes critic score. And that’s despite the fact that it brought back some of the most beloved characters from the still-iconic original Jurassic Park film.

Now the franchise is going back to those who know it best. The screenwriter of the original, David Koepp, will be back to write a new, currently untitled, chapter of the Jurassic saga. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news today and also revealed that the Jurassic World trilogy producers Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley will be producing once more. Steven Spielberg will serve as executive producer.

According to Variety, David Leitch is in talks to direct the movie. He’s got a lot of hits under his belt, including Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, and Bullet Train.

Will the new movie be a reboot?

The next movie won’t be a reboot of the franchise, but it does seem very likely to be a whole new trilogy with new characters. So no Bryce Dallas Howard or Chris Pratt, as far as we know. Unless they eventually return the same way the Jurassic Park cast did for the Jurassic World trilogy?

Jurassic World: Dominion was always intended to be the last in a trilogy. Marshall told Slashfilm back in January 2022:

“I think that Dominion’s going to wrap up this trilogy, but we’re not resting on our laurels. We’re going to sit down, and we’re going to see what the future is. We have that wonderful series, Camp Cretaceous, on Netflix. We obviously want to make quality, good movies with great storytelling, great writers and directors, but we’re definitely looking to do more in the Jurassic world.”

The Jurassic World films may not be doing well critically, but they have made a huge amount of money. All of them made it to the top five highest-grossing movies the year they were released. So it’s not surprising that the franchise would continue.

What will the new movie be about?

We have almost nothing to go on about the plot of the new movie. Bear in mind what we’ve already seen, though. We’ve had a dinosaur theme park being tested out, an island full of dinosaurs, a dinosaur theme park in full operation mode, and finally a world where humans and dinosaurs try to live alongside each other. Where could the franchise go from here that would put dino fans in seats? The Hollywood Reporter suggests “Jurassic Space,” so you never know. Maybe we’ll end up with velociraptors wreaking havoc on the ISS.

When is the release date?

Jurassic fans will have to wait a little while before more dinosaur carnage. The movie’s release date is currently set for July 2, 2025. So that gives us plenty of time to speculate on whether this one will be a critical hit or a miss.

(featured image: Universal Pictures)