Jurassic World Rebirth (2025) isn’t off to a very good start.
Jurassic Park is on the verge of yet another heyday. With all sorts of projects in the works, from animated shows to video games, merchandise to movie sequels, and lots more, there might be no better time to be a fan of the long-running franchise.
No one could have predicted it would become this big. After Joe Johnston’s underwhelming threequel Jurassic Park III sent the franchise back into extinction in 2001 (through no fault of his own) audiences were convinced the IP would never be unearthed again.
But in 2015, director Colin Trevorrow breathed new life into the franchise with Jurassic World. The film grossed $1.68B worldwide and spawned two sequels, two short films, two animated shows, several waves of merchandise, and new attractions at Universal Studios.
Now, yet another new Jurassic era is about to begin.
Jurassic World Rebirth Gets Huge Update
Someone at Universal Pictures must have shut down power to all the fences, because a synopsis, teaser, and stills for Jurassic World Rebirth have been unleashed.
The upcoming movie sequel will be the seventh installment in the Jurassic Park franchise, following Jurassic Park (1993), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), Jurassic Park III (2001), Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), and Jurassic World Dominion (2022), which grossed a combined $6B+ at the global box office.
Directed by Gareth Edwards (2014’s Godzilla, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), written by David Koepp (Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park), produced by Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley (the Jurassic World trilogy), and executive-produced by Steven Spielberg (director of the first two films and EP on the last four), Jurassic World Rebirth is set to launch “a new Jurassic era” with an all-new cast.
That cast includes Scarlett Johansson (Avengers: Endgame), Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton), Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Lincoln Lawyer), Rupert Friend (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Mahershala Ali (The Green Book), Luna Blaise (Manifest), David Iacono (Dead Boy Detectives), and Audrina Miranda (Lopez vs Lopez).
None of the actors from the previous films, such as Sam Neill (Alan Grant), Laura Dern (Ellie Sattler), Jeff Goldblum (Ian Malcolm), Bryce Dallas Howard (Claire Dearing), BD Wong (Henry Wu), and Isabella Sermon (Maisie Lockwood) are expected to reprise their roles.
The film is currently shooting at Sky Elstree Studios in the United Kingdom, having completed an on-location shoot in Thailand and studio shoots in Kalkara, Malta. So, with production nearing its end, we finally have our first proper look at the new movie.
Jurassic World Rebirth New Images
The official press release from Universal Pictures includes a first look at the new characters Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson) and Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey), who, despite Ajay Sidhu’s stark warning in The Lost World, appear to have gone “into the long grass”:
At this point, it’s fair to say that red flares in the Jurassic Park franchise have become a bit of a meme. But here’s to hoping this one helps Mahershala Ali’s Duncan Kincaid from whatever gigantic dinosaur he’s staring down in the below still:
Jurassic World Rebirth Teaser
While these two new stills certainly let one’s imagination wander, the new logo that was also revealed leaves a lot to be desired.
Check it out below per the official Jurassic World X (formerly Twitter) account:
Jurassic World Rebirth. In theaters July 2025.
Jurassic World Rebirth. In theaters July 2025. pic.twitter.com/CLUdLQPPfO
— Jurassic World (@JurassicWorld) August 29, 2024
It just feels a bit too “clean” and retains that deliberate corporate theme of the first Jurassic World logo. Where’s the grimy jungle aesthetic? But what really has us worried is the official synopsis that has also been revealed by Universal Pictures.
Related: ‘Jurassic Park’ Releasing Official Never-Before-Seen Version of 1993 Film
Jurassic World Rebirth Synopsis Breakdown
Previously, a logline from Variety described Jurassic World Rebirth as “a completely fresh take launching a new Jurassic era, following three adults and three teens getting stuck on the island.”
Not only is this pretty formulaic blurb for a Jurassic movie, but the fact that it states “the” island and not “an” island is quite careless. How are we supposed to know which island this is? Is it Isla Nublar? Isla Sorna/Site B? A new one? This isn’t cryptic — it’s just clumsy.
But, fortunately, that question has now been answered in a new, bloated, and convoluted synopsis from the studio, which spends two-and-a-half paragraphs essentially bragging about the franchise’s success before even getting to the crux of what the film is about.
“A new era is born,” it begins. “Next summer, three years after the Jurassic World trilogy concluded with each film surpassing $1 billion at the global box office, the enduring Jurassic series evolves in an ingenious new direction with Jurassic World Rebirth.”
While the franchise’s financial success is very impressive, why do we need to know how much money it’s made? After all — the last couple of films (Fallen Kingdom and Dominion) didn’t go down well with many fans and critics despite shattering the box office.
Save this sort of sales pitch for your film’s investors. And an “ingenious new direction,” eh? We’ll be the judge of that. But let’s see what the actual blurb has in store.
After confirming “iconic action superstar” Scarlett Johansson, “breakthrough talent” Jonathan Bailey and “two-time Oscar® winner” Mahershala Ali, we’re finally told that “this action-packed new chapter sees an intrepid team racing to secure DNA samples from the three most colossal creatures across land, sea, and air.”
“Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived,” it adds.
In other words, Jurassic World Rebirth will retcon the 2022 sequel. Sure, if any film is to blame, it’s Colin Trevorrow’s Dominion, seeing as it squandered the opportunity to explore the concept of dinosaurs living in our world by instead focusing on corporate espionage.
While the premise, which was established at the end of Fallen Kingdom, was continued in other projects like the short film Battle at Big Rock (2019), the park simulation video game “Jurassic World Evolution 2” (2021), and the new animated series Jurassic World: Chaos Theory (2024), it’s obvious that Rebirth is trying to offer some sort of course correction.
But why can’t the film simply give us what its predecessor didn’t? Why are we going back to an island setting again?
Jurassic World Rebirth Dinosaurs
“The three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind,” the synopsis continues.
“Academy Award® nominee Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure genetical material from the world’s three most massive dinosaurs.”
We’re only halfway through and there are problems everywhere.
Not only does Zora Bennett sound like a substitute for Chris Pratt’s over-the-top action hero Owen Grady (we love Scarlett Johansson and we’re always happy to be proven wrong), but the plot about securing “genetical material from the world’s three most massive dinosaurs” to save the world — from across land, air, and sea no less — sounds very contrived; like nothing more than an excuse to have three elaborate action sequences, each in a different environment.
On a more positive note, these sequences will probably be incredible. But with a budget rumored to be around the $200M mark, we expect nothing less (the film is obviously being “spared no expense” as the late Richard Attenborough’s John Hammond would say).
The synopsis goes on: “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.”
“Dinos” sounds a bit out-of-place for an otherwise professional film synopsis. Why not just go the distance and call them “dinosaurs”? But even then, that would be inaccurate. Without wanting to sound pedantic, the correct term is “prehistoric marine reptiles” — not “aquatic”.
As for “marauding,” that makes it sound like these things are nothing more than monsters, which is at odds with what the original 1993 film establishes — that dinosaurs are animals.
Related: Universal’s Jurassic Park Likely To Be Permanently Demolished in 2025
Jurassic World Rebirth Characters
The “civilian family” in question includes the three teens mentioned in the official logline. It is also revealed that the father, Reuben Delgado, is played by Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Lincoln Lawyer), and his three children are played by Luna Blaise (Manifest), David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty), and Audrina Miranda (Lopez vs. Lopez).
While the Jurassic Park franchise is known for featuring young characters in each of its movies (Ariana Richards’ Lex Murphy, Joe Mazzello’s Tim Murphy, Vanessa Lee Chester’s Kelly Malcolm, Trevor Morgan’s Eric Kirby, Nick Robinson’s Zach Mitchell, Ty Simpkins’ Gray Mitchell, Isabella Sermon’s Maisie Lockwood), this also sounds like a studio-mandated plot element; like it’s part of a wider box-ticking exercise. Gigantic dinosaurs? Check. Decorated action hero? Check. A bunch of kids? Check.
Of course, we could be wrong — perhaps the civilian family is integral to the plot somehow. But at least we now know that the island is neither Isla Nublar nor Isla Sorna. According to an online rumor, the film takes place in the South American country Suriname.
Meanwhile, we wonder if Universal deliberately meant to spoil the upcoming sequel. The logline states that the film “follows three adults and three teens getting stuck on the island,” however, the new synopsis confirms several more characters in addition to those six. As such, we think it’s safe to assume that everyone else is killed early on in the film.
When you take the typical Jurassic formula into account, it’s already obvious that anyone other than the main characters — who, in this film, we now know to be Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson), Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey), Reuben Delgado (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), and the three children — will ultimately become dinosaur food. But this is still a huge oversight.
Jurassic World Rebirth Plot Twist
The most potentially troublesome aspect of that last part of the synopsis is the twist it alludes to: “a sinister, shocking discovery that’s been hidden from the world for decades.”
This is very intriguing and will no doubt have fans spewing out all sorts of theories over the next twelve months. But one of the first things that comes to mind is dino-human hybrids.
Is the Jurassic series finally about to introduce what it’s been dying to unleash for decades?
The original script for Jurassic Park 4 — which never saw the light of day as the sequel was eventually replaced by Jurassic World — featured half-human, half-dinosaur creatures and an equally bonkers plot (although the 2015 sequel did retain the “trained raptors” element).
While JA Bayona’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) featured a dino-human hybrid of sorts with the Indoraptor, it was so subtle that you could easily pretend this isn’t the case.
But all those Jurassic World Rebirth set photos of temples and ruins have us slightly worried that the new film will feature some sort of civilization of human-dino hybrids that InGen may have left to their own devices (think The Island of Dr. Moreau).
Another online rumor claims that the film will involve the search for a “hybrid human-dinosaur serum.” Is this what Zora Bennett’s team is looking for?
On the other hand, maybe the “sinister” and “shocking” reveal will be about how InGen wiped out an entire civilization of indigenous people in order to build Jurassic Park.
Is this what the film’s apparently “ingenious new direction” will involve?
Or, is the reveal something else equally canon-shattering, like “natural dinosaurs,” which would, of course, upend the entire premise of the franchise as it would mean that InGen never created prehistoric animals and that they only ever cloned real ones that have somehow survived for tens of millions of years.
The synopsis adds further character information — causing some confusion along the way — revealing Mahershala Ali as Duncan Kincaid, “Zora’s most trusted team leader” (isn’t Zora the team leader?); Jonathan Bailey as paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis (fans are unlikely to confuse him with Dr. Henry Wu, we’re sure); Rupert Friend as Big Pharma representative Martin Krebs (a good-guy, no doubt); and Philippine Velge (Station Eleven), Bechir Sylvain (BMF), Ed Skrein (Deadpool) as Zora and Kreb’s yet-to-be-named crew members.
When Can I Watch Jurassic World Rebirth?
Jurassic World Rebirth will be released in theaters worldwide on July 2, 2025. The film will likely be available to watch digitally and/or stream later that year.
Future Jurassic Park Projects
While it seems like the Jurassic World banner continues to consume the franchise, an upcoming video game titled “Jurassic Park: Survival” (TBA) will act as a direct sequel to the beloved 1993 film by director Steven Spielberg, offering players the opportunity to explore “a fully realized Isla Nublar” only 24 hours after the events of the original classic.
Watch the trailer below from Jurassic World YouTube:
There’s no release date for the game.
Are you excited about Jurassic World Rebirth? Let Inside the Magic know down below!