Universal Pictures won’t give up on Jurassic World. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio has commissioned a relaunch of the 30-year-old franchise. For that, they are going back to the first screenwriter: David Koepp has apparently been working on a brand-new Jurassic World script for a bit, which is reportedly coming together nicely.
The project is described as an all-new storyline that would send the franchise into a new Jurassic era. No franchise regulars are expected to return, including Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, or Jeff Goldblum. The script is apparently in good enough shape that the studio is already thinking about a possible 2025 release, three years after Jurassic World: Dominion had seemingly put a temporary end to the franchise.
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Frank Marshall, the veteran producer behind all movies in the franchise, will be returning once again, along with Patrick Crowley. Steven Spielberg will continue to milk the cow via an executive producer title through Amblin Entertainment.
Koepp is the screenwriter behind the original Jurassic Park, as well as Mission: Impossible (1996), 2002’s Spider-Man, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He penned the first draft of the fifth Indiana Jones installment, for which he received final credit.
No director has been chosen, and no actors have been attached yet. However, given how well they’ve been able to keep the secret up until now, it seems like the project is now making the rounds outside of the studio lot, perhaps circulating through the agencies. That would be how THR got a hold of it.
Jurassic World and Universal’s Need for Franchises
A meteor may have killed all dinosaurs in the past, but the box office explosion caused by Dominion‘s near-billion-dollar grosses has kept them alive in our multiplexes this time. Donna Langley and her team are looking for new franchises now that the Fast & Furious saga is supposed to come to a close (especially in light of Vin Diesel’s recent allegations and The Rock’s move into A24 camp). Given their successful partnership with Christopher Nolan in 2023’s Oppenheimer, the Dark Knight director will likely return to them with his next project, but that’s only happening every few years.
The studio is coming off a giant 2023, where they dethroned Disney as the biggest Hollywood studio at the box office for the first time in many years, thanks to the success of Oppenheimer, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and M3GAN, among others. Their 2024 schedule is looking a lot weaker if we set aside the blockbuster-in-the-making Despicable Me 4 (which could very well be the biggest movie of the year).
They just released Blumhouse’s Night Swim, which is not doing great. Matt Vaughn’s Argylle is set to open in a few days, but the buzz isn’t there at the moment. Will Dua Lipa and Henry Cavill be enough to entice people into going to the theaters? They have a couple of interesting bets that could pay off with Twisters and The Fall Guy, and other genre pics throughout the year like Wolf Man or Abigail, but it’s not looking like a very solid year.
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They probably hope to get it back on their feet with 2025’s M3GAN sequel and, most importantly, the How to Train Your Dragon live-action remake, which just started production. And they have the two-parter Wicked adaptation, which could do very well for them in 2024 and 2025, or it could also bomb harder than In The Heights.
About Jurassic World Sequel (Title TBA)
Release Date: TBD
Director: TBD
Writer: David Koepp
Producers: Frank Marshall, Patrick Crowley
Executive Producers: Steven Spielberg
Production: Amblin Entertainment, Universal Pictures
Cast: TBD
Synopsis (From Dominion): From Jurassic World architect and director COLIN TREVORROW, Jurassic World: Dominion takes place four years after Isla Nublar has been destroyed. Dinosaurs now live—and hunt—alongside humans all over the world. This fragile balance will reshape the future and determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history’s most fearsome creatures.
What do you make of Universal developing a new Jurassic World film? Do you think it’s too soon? Who would you cast in the film? What’s your pick for the director?
SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter
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