Matthew Percefull
In 2022, Jurassic World: Dominion was released. The film cleaned up at the box office, grossing a billion dollars. Despite its financial success, Jurassic World: Dominion was universally panned. It angered critics and confused fans. The Jurassic World reboot project began promising with 2015’s first entry while the subsequent films almost instantly dissolved into convoluted CGI messes. Three years later, they’re already attempting another reboot of sorts. Jurassic World Rebirth releases on July 2nd and is helmed by Gareth Edwards and starring Scarlett Johansson.
The Jurassic franchise is in an awkward position. The Jurassic World films are a hit by every financial metric. Based on the numbers, one would expect them to be extremely popular. That just isn’t the case. The Jurassic World series of films has little to no presence in the broader film culture. After a series of poorly received box office successes, the creative team has an interesting task with Jurassic World Rebirth. Will they attempt to change the current reputation of the franchise, or will they play it safe? Knowing how financially viable the brand is, there’s the possibility that they won’t mess with the formula at all. The last film made a billion dollars with poor word of mouth. We will find out in July if the studio has learned anything or if they’re blinded by their money-tinted goggles.
The trailer for Jurassic World Rebirth feels very familiar. From recreated moments to musical homages, this trailer has the original Jurassic Park film heavily on its mind. It appears to be attempting the same blend of adventure and horror that made Spielberg’s original film so effective. This is a hard line to walk. Even Spielberg himself wasn’t able to recapture it with his second attempt. This reverential tone could just be marketing though. 2015’s Jurassic World was sold on a similarly nostalgic type of marketing. That film ended up being a mean spirited, maximalist take on the material. Given Rebirth keeps the Jurassic World moniker, it’s not really clear how far it will stray from the recent trilogy’s tone.
Gareth Edwards is an interesting pull for a Jurassic film. His visual style and experience with creature features make him an obvious pick. It’s his storytelling instincts that worry me with his hire. Edwards is immaculately talented at crafting a jaw-dropping image, The Creator and Godzilla were full of stunning visuals. This seems to carry over to Jurassic World Rebirth. There are some gorgeous shots with vibrant colors in this trailer. Visually this film is sure to work, but the charm of Jurassic Park didn’t end at the visuals. David Koepp who penned the first two Jurassic films, returns to write the script. This is a good sign. Edwards not having as much to do with the story may prove to be a good thing.
1993’s Jurassic Park is an absolute classic that will always be celebrated as such. It has a cultural relevance that few film franchises have been able to accomplish. This is the reason the Jurassic World films were so successful at the box office. With just one film, Jurassic Park became a franchise that instills audiences with intense emotions off of brand recognition alone. Every single attempt to capture the same magic has just diluted the reputation. If Jurassic World Rebirth is good, or at the very least fun, it will breathe much needed breath into the Jurassic films. If it’s bad, audiences will quickly become fatigued and will be less likely to give the franchise another chance.
The trailer offers a mix of exciting visuals and concepts with the IP driven filmmaking we’ve come accustomed to over recent years. It lays out the two potential paths that Jurassic World Rebirth could take. On one hand it could be a visually daring horror flick with mutant experiment dinosaurs running around. Or it could be an overly referential cash grab. The trailer offers enough of both to have me at least intrigued. The margin for error has never been smaller for this franchise.
Directed by Gareth Edwards, written by David Koepp, and starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali, Jurassic World Rebirth will be in theaters on July 2, 2025.
