Jurassic World reveals a new era (and release date) for the dino franchise
This ain't your mother's Jurassic Park. We have now moved into the third iteration of the Jurassic franchise, following Spielberg's original and the Chris Pratt-led Jurassic World trilogy. Previously, it was confirmed that the next installment will be led by Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali. On Thursday, it was announced that this next incarnation will be titled Jurassic World Rebirth, coming to theaters on July 2, 2025.
Rogue One's Gareth Edwards is set to direct Rebirth, which is described in the synopsis: “Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.”
Universal also revealed a few first-look images of its leads in action. Johansson plays “skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure genetic material from the world’s three most massive dinosaurs. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on an island where they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that’s been hidden from the world for decades.” Mahershala Ali plays Duncan Kincaid, Zora’s most trusted team leader, and Jonathan Bailey plays paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis. The film also stars Rupert Friend as Big Pharma representative Martin Krebs and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Reuben Delgado, the father of the shipwrecked civilian family, per The Wrap.
"I am loving it. We’re doing a whole new version of the Jurassic Park franchise," Bailey recently shared in conversation with Ariana Grande for VMan. Zooming in from Thailand, where Rebirth is shooting, the Bridgerton alum shared that the first Jurassic Park was the first movie he saw in theaters with his whole family when he was "way too young," and it "terrified" him. Rebirth is "written by David Koepp, who wrote the original," Bailey added. "It feels like it’s in ultimate hands to bring it back to what the original achieved." You can check out the two first-look images down below, courtesy of Universal Pictures.