“Jurassic World Rebirth” director Gareth Edwards is leaving the dinosaurs behind.
The filmmaker was expected to return for Universal’s sequel to 2025’s “Jurassic World Rebirth,” which rebooted the sci-fi series and generated $870 million globally. However, Edwards has departed the project over creative differences, Variety has confirmed.
Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey led the prehistoric revival, which revolved around a top-secret quest to retrieve the DNA of dinosaurs to create a miracle drug. Plot details for the follow-up haven’t been confirmed, but screenwriter David Koepp is expected to return alongside Johansson, Ali and Bailey. The studio hopes to begin shooting the sequel in 2027.
“We had an incredible experience working with Gareth on Jurassic World Rebirth,” Universal said in a statement.
Although the property remains popular, “Jurassic” is experiencing some diminishing returns at the box office. Universal’s initial “Jurassic Park” spinoff trilogy, anchored by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, launched with 2015’s “Jurassic World” and concluded with 2022’s “Jurassic World Dominion” — all of which eclipsed $1 billion in global ticket sales. These movies are enormously expensive, with production budgets that regularly soar above $250 million.
This film will be the eighth installment in the “Jurassic” franchise. Steven Spielberg first brought to life the pages of Michael Crichton’s novel about a disastrous attempt to create a theme park with dinosaurs. Spielberg directed the original 1993 adventure, starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Richard Attenborough, as well as the 1997 sequel “The Lost World,” while director Joe Johnston took over filmmaking duties for 2001’s trilogy-capper “Jurassic World III.”
Edwards is otherwise best known for “Godzilla,” “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and “The Creator.”
