Universal Suddenly Scraps ‘Jurassic World’ Sequel, Future of Franchise Unknown

in Movies & TV

Jonathan Bailey as Dr. Henry Loomis (L) and Scarlett Johansson as Zora Bennett (R) in 'Jurassic World Rebirth'

Credit: Universal Pictures

The seventh Jurassic Park movie, officially titled Jurassic World Rebirth, was previously said to be taking the franchise in a surprising new direction while launching “a new Jurassic era.”

Now, a major update has revealed that several future Jurassic World movie sequels have been scrapped, leaving the future of the long-running franchise uncertain.

Directed by Colin Trevorrow, Jurassic World Dominion grossed over $1B worldwide like its predecessors, Jurassic World (2015) and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018).

However, like the 2018 sequel, it was torn apart by fans and critics due to a weak script and poor storytelling decisions. But the film’s biggest crime was its lack of focus on the concept of dinosaurs living among humans.

In the four years leading up to Dominion‘s release, fans were promised time and time again that the sixth film in the long-running series would focus on dinosaurs living alongside humans on the mainland — which is exactly where the end of Fallen Kingdom put them.

(L to R) Kayla (DeWanda Wise) and Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) encountering the Pyroraptor in 'Jurassic World Dominion'
Credit: Universal Pictures

Jurassic World‘s Big Promise

In the 2018 sequel directed by JA Bayona, following the third-act black-market dinosaur auction at Lockwood Manor, several dinosaurs escape into the Sierra Nevada region. This happens after many of the animals had already been successfully sold off to a handful of different buyers.

The montage that follows their escape shows the illegally acquired dinosaurs being shipped to different locations around the world, while Rexy adjusts to life in the forest, Blue settles near a Nevada town, and the Mosasaurus becomes the apex predator of the earth’s oceans. A post-credits scene even shows Pteranodons making a home for themselves in Las Vegas.

That same year, the augmented-reality “Pokémon Go”-inspired mobile app game “Jurassic World: Alive” was released, which involves “catching” dinosaurs out in your local area.

The Mosasaur attacking a fishing boat in 'Jurassic World Dominion'
Credit: Universal Pictures

Dominion’s Four-Year Marketing Campaign

In 2019, Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow helmed the live-action short Battle at Big Rock, an eight-minute film that focuses on a blended family on a camping trip who are caught in a battle between a family of Nasutoceratops and an Allosaurus.

During the credits, a montage shows other dinosaurs wreaking havoc around the world.

In 2021, the park simulation video game sequel “Jurassic World Evolution 2” (2021) — which takes place on the mainland — was released to serve as a tie-in to the then-upcoming 2022 film.

In 2022, a website called Dino Tracker was set up to drum up attention for the release of Jurassic World Dominion. The website — which is still active — offers a constantly-updating global map that pinpoints where different species of dinosaurs have been “spotted” recently.

In conjunction with the launch of the website, another live-action short film that showed dinosaurs thriving around the world was released online.

There are many other media tie-ins, too, like the Maisie Lockwood novels, which also take place on the mainland.

Even this year’s second Netflix animated series Jurassic World: Chaos Theory (2024) continues with the concept established in Fallen Kingdom and Dominion.

Triceratops caught in headlights in 'Jurassic World Dominion's Dino Tracker short films
Credit: Universal Pictures

Related: ‘Jurassic Park’ Releasing Official Never-Before-Seen Version of 1993 Film

Jurassic World Wasted a LOT of Potential

As you can see, Universal Pictures spent four years promising audiences they’d eventually get to see dinosaurs living on the mainland.

Unfortunately, by the time we arrived at Dominion — which is set four years after Fallen Kingdom, giving the dinosaurs enough time to flourish all around the world — we’d missed all the exciting stuff.

During the 2022 sequel, we’re treated to two more montages that showcase global dinosaur activity: one designed to bring us up to speed on those four years, and another at the end that shows the dinosaurs suddenly living in harmony with modern-day animals.

With that said, we do get some solid scenes set on the mainland: there’s one in which Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) wrangles Parasaurs in Sierra Nevada; some night-time action involving Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), Franklin Webb (Justice Smith), Zia Rodriguez (Daniella Pineda), and dinosaur poachers; and a thrilling chase sequence in Malta where Owen and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) find themselves at an illegal underground dinosaur market before they’re chased through the streets by Atrociraptors.

Unfortunately, though, that’s about it.

Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) in Malta on his motorbike in 'Jurassic World Dominion'
Credit: Universal Pictures

Destroying Isla Nublar Was Pointless

The rest of the film takes place at a Biosyn facility in Italy’s Dolomite Mountains, which serves as a substitute for a jungle island — even though Fallen Kingdom went to great lengths to destroy Isla Nublar in an attempt to cut the franchise’s ties with such settings.

Despite being hugely entertaining from start to finish, ultimately, Dominion seemingly refuses to follow through with what Fallen Kingdom worked hard to establish and to deliver on a four-year promise of giving fans something they’d been waiting decades to see.

However, while the closing montage heavily implies that humans and dinosaurs will eventually learn to coexist, it’s obvious that the two dominant species being forced to share the planet was the intended route for subsequent entries in the franchise.

Darius Bowman in the 'Jurassic World: Chaos Theory' trailer
Credit: Universal Pictures / DreamWorks Animation / Amblin Entertainment / Netflix

Jurassic World Rebirth Update

Now, as revealed in the synopsis released by Universal Pictures last week, Jurassic World Rebirth will take place five years after Dominion. But instead of giving us what its predecessor failed to deliver, the film will take the franchise back to the jungle island setting.

“A new era is born,” it reads, a statement that is instantly at odds with the film’s confirmed island setting.

“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,” it continues.

“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.”

(L) The Jurassic World T-Rex in the Jurassic World Winter Olympics trailer (R) Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow
Credit: Inside the Magic

Related: Universal’s Jurassic Park Likely To Be Permanently Demolished in 2025

Jurassic World Rebirth Will Ignore Dominion

So, everything that was set up at the end of Fallen Kingdom, promised in all the marketing over a four-year period, and continued (to some extent) in Dominion, will be completely ignored in the new film, with the planet now suddenly proving “inhospitable to dinosaurs.”

As such, most of the dinosaurs will have likely been killed off in the five years that separate the 2022 sequel and the upcoming film (which will be the first film in the series that’s set in the future as the five-year jump places it in 2027).

Meanwhile, any surviving dinosaurs will have migrated to equatorial environments, which in itself is problematic. You could argue that these are genetically-engineered dinosaurs, however, Dominion shows several species living in snowy environments without issue. But we digress.

The blurb goes on: “The three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind. Academy Award® nominee [Scarlett] 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.”

“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.”

(L to R) VelociCoaster concept art for Universal Studios, Jurassic Park logo, Scarlett Johansson in 'Lucy'
Credit: Inside the Magic

Does this synopsis really scream “a new era”? Sounds like more of the same thing. Jurassic World Rebirth isn’t entirely to blame for this jarring shift in direction, though — most of that fault falls at Dominion‘s feet for not only failing to deliver on a four-year-long promise, but for reverting back to the jungle setting almost immediately after Isla Nublar was destroyed.

Still, while Dominion was marketed as “the end of the Jurassic era,” it was obvious that the future of the franchise had been perfectly set up: Dinosaurs on the mainland. Oh, the endless storytelling possibilities. But, for whatever reason, Universal has scrapped any Jurassic World sequels that were meant to be and is seemingly doing away with the concept entirely.

As such, the future of the franchise now remains unknown. Is Jurassic World Rebirth the beginning of a new trilogy? And, if so, where are things headed?

In addition to the Jurassic World Rebirth synopsis, Universal has also released a first-look at some of the film’s lead characters.

Jonathan Bailey’s Henry Loomis and Scarlett Johansson’s Zora Bennett hide in the long grass:

Jonathan Bailey as Dr. Henry Loomis (L) and Scarlett Johansson as Zora Bennett (R) in 'Jurassic World Rebirth'
Credit: Universal Pictures

Mahershala Ali’s Duncan Kincaid lights a red flare and screams in terror at an unseen dinosaur:

Mahershala Ali as Duncan Kincaid holding a flare in 'Jurassic World Rebirth'
Credit: Universal Pictures

Jurassic World Rebirth Teaser

The film’s official new logo was also revealed in a short teaser. Check it out below per the official Jurassic World X (formerly Twitter) account:

Jurassic World Rebirth. In theaters July 2025.

Related: ‘Jurassic Park: Survival’ Trailer Breakdown

Jurassic World Rebirth will be the seventh installment in the Jurassic franchise, following Jurassic Park (1993), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), Jurassic Park III (2001), Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and Jurassic World Dominion, 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, Jurassic World Rebirth will 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), Audrina Miranda (Lopez vs Lopez), Philippine Velge (Station Eleven), Bechir Sylvain (BMF), and Ed Skrein (Deadpool).

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.

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” just 24 hours after the events of the original classic.

Watch the trailer below from Jurassic World YouTube:

There’s no release date for “Jurassic Park: Survival.”

Other upcoming Jurassic installments include Jurassic World: Chaos Theory Season 2, which premiers on Netflix on October 17, and the video game sequel “Jurassic World Evolution 3”, which will be released sometime before May 2026.

Do you like the sound of Jurassic World Rebirth? Or do you think the film should fix the mistakes of Jurassic World Dominion instead of ignoring them? Let Inside the Magic know your thoughts in the comments down below!

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