Credit: Universal PicturesThe upcoming sequel tentatively titled Jurassic World 4 has lost its potential director David Leitch, Deadline reports.
Announced on January 23, the seventh installment in the long-running Jurassic franchise is being “fast-tracked” by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment for a July 2, 2025 release. However, while Deadpool 2 (2018) and Bullet Train (2022) director David Leitch was recently said to be in talks with Universal, those plans have now fallen through.
Leitch’s exit is said to be “amicable” and is due to him and the studio having “different visions” for the film. But with a summer 2025 release in sight, the studio can’t afford to waste time sourcing new candidates to helm the project. Here are five filmmakers we think would be perfect to start “a new Jurassic era.”
Who should direct Jurassic World 4?
Gareth Edwards
Most people haven’t heard of Monsters (2010), but before he was unleashing Kaiju upon San Francisco in Godzilla (2014) and pitting rebels against the Empire in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Gareth Edwards was an indie filmmaker best known for this criminally overlooked sci-fi flick (although it grossed $4.2 million against its $500,000 budget).
With extra-terrestrial lifeforms having long since made themselves at home in Mexico, several parts of the country are now heavily quarantined. There on a work assignment, photojournalist Andrew Kaulden (Scoot McNairy) is suddenly tasked with escorting his editor’s injured daughter Samantha Wynden (Whitney Able) back across the border into the US, but during their journey they find that the creatures aren’t the only monsters.
One of the most compelling things about Monsters is that the aliens tend to occupy the film’s backdrop, there to serve the theme while Edwards focuses his lens on the more human story. Coupled with the fact the film’s antagonists aren’t the center of attention, the guerrilla-style cinematography might leave you wondering whether Jurassic Park could work in this way.
There might be no better director for the Jurassic sequel than Gareth Edwards. After Monsters, he breathed new life into Godzilla with his 2014 reboot, which led to a shared cinematic universe that’s still going strong, with four films under its belt, and now, a live-action series, an anime series, and the upcoming Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024).
It’s also worth noting that Edwards created Monsters‘ aliens himself, using “off-the-shelf” software. As a result, the creatures look as startlingly convincing as the original Jurassic Park‘s dinosaurs. And with dinosaurs already running rampant around North America, we think it’s time for Edwards to start setting up “infected zones” within the Jurassic franchise, too.
Updated February 21: Strangely enough, The Hollywood Reporter has reported that Gareth Edwards is now in talks to direct Jurassic World 4 (you’re welcome, Universal Pictures!).
Related: ‘Wednesday’ Star May Lead All-New Cast in ‘Jurassic World 4’
John Carnahan
The Grey (2012) is another example of a very human-driven story set against a wilderness inhabited by dangerous creatures. In this case, it’s a pack of man-eating Canadian grey wolves, as Liam Neeson’s John Ottway desperately tries to lead the survivors of a deadly plane crash to safety in the vast Alaskan wilderness during a brutal, unforgiving snowstorm.
Joe Carnahan’s survival thriller was touted as “Taken with wolves” prior to release, but the film is anything but. Based on the novella Ghost Walker by Ian MacKenzie Jeffers, The Grey deals with man’s fear of confronting death, with the wolves serving as an allegory for death itself; operating in the shadows, always one step behind, and mostly unseen during the film’s two-hour runtime.
Taking a similar approach with Jurassic World 4 would be nothing short of genius. Given the more bombastic action movie-style of later sequels, it’s all too easy to forget that the franchise’s dinosaurs are nothing more than incredibly dangerous animals that were given the less-is-more approach in Steven Spielberg’s original two films, Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997).
If Joe Carnahan were to helm the Jurassic sequel, giving the dinosaurs the same treatment The Grey‘s wolfpack gets would tick one box, and dropping the film into a snowy setting would tick another. After all, Jurassic World Dominion (2022) already revealed dinosaurs living in snowy environments. The real question is; is Liam Neeson available?
Related: ‘Jurassic Park: Survival’ Trailer Breakdown
John Krasinski
It would have been easy for John Krasinski to be exclusively associated with lovestruck salesman Jim Halpert from The Office (2005 — 2013) after the show ended. And while he will always be synonymous with that character, thankfully he has also forged a career in filmmaking, delivering his directorial debut in the box office hit A Quiet Place (2018), which centers on a family fighting to survive in a post-apocalyptic world teeming with alien creatures that detect the slightest sounds (Krasinski stars in the two films opposite his real-life wife Emily Blunt).
The film was followed by A Quiet Place Part II (2020), which was also a criticial and financial hit. A new spinoff titled A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) is set for release in June, while A Quiet Place Part III (2025) is currently in development.
Needless to say, Krasinski would be a very wise choice for Jurassic World 4. His two sci-fi flicks are suspense-fueled survival thrillers that, like Monsters and The Grey, and just like Jurassic Park, appreciate the art of underusing a terrifying antagonist.
Don’t make a sound in case the alien hears you, don’t move in case the T-Rex sees you — need we say more?
Related: Every Upcoming ‘Jurassic Park’ Installment Confirmed
Matt Reeves
Director Matt Reeves might be busy working on The Batman Part II (2025) right now, but looking back at Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), the two last chapters in the Apes reboot trilogy (there’s a fourth film on the way), it’s plain to see that he’s more than capable of delivering something truly special with the Jurassic World sequel.
Though they were enormous box office beasts, there’s something oddly indie-like about Reeves’ two Apes films — they don’t just break from Rupert Wyatt’s trilogy-opener Rise of the Planet of the Apes with a significant time-leap, but there’s also a huge departure in style, as the 2011 reboot feels more like a traditional blockbuster than its two follow-ups.
But the three new Apes films share some similarities with the last two Jurassic films, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Jurassic World Dominion, in that they revolve around the concept of creatures that have the potential to become the new dominant species being unleashed upon an unsuspecting world.
Unfortunately, the Jurassic World sequels never truly realized the potential they wielded, but Matt Reeves, who also directed the found-footage monster flick Cloverfield (2008), could easily fix that. Just no talking dinosaurs, please — we already had that in Jurassic Park III (2001) and it did not go down well with fans.
Related: Upcoming ‘Jurassic Park’ Sequel May Retcon 1993 Film’s Ending
Is Steven Spielberg returning for Jurassic World 4?
Steven Spielberg’s reputation precedes him, but the fact he directed the first two films in the Jurassic series and returned as executive producer on the subsequent four films makes him more than qualified to carry the franchise forward.
He’s now back as EP on Jurassic World 4, returning alongside franchise veterans David Koepp, the screenwriter for the first two films, and Frank Marshall and Patrick Cowley, who were producers on the Jurassic World trilogy.
With David Leitch no longer in the running to direct the seventh entry in the series, is it possible Spielberg will fill the director’s chair once again? We’ll have our claws crossed.
Jurassic World 4 –What else do we know?
It’s unknown whether any cast members from the previous Jurassic films will return, however, Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston has said he’d like to star in the sequel.
The film is currently aiming for theatrical release on July 2, 2025.
This article was originally published on February 11.
Who would you like to see direct Jurassic World 4? Let Inside the Magic know your thoughts in the comments down below!