Credit: Universal PicturesJurassic World 4 (2025) is hot news right now. While it has yet to be confirmed whether the film is a sequel or prequel, it will be the seventh entry in the series.
Either way, the franchise is set to continue churning out theatrical movies, with the upcoming film already said to be starting “an all-new Jurassic era.” The fact Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) star Scarlett Johansson is in talks with Universal Pictures to lead the film also speaks to the likelihood of there being more installments beyond Jurassic World 4.
But the Jurassic franchise isn’t restricted to the big screen. We’ve already had the Netflix animated show Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous (2020 — 2022), which is due a follow-up later this year with the sequel series Jurassic World: Chaos Theory (2024), which now has a brand-new trailer.
However, while the IP has already given us a television series, it’s yet to tap into the live-action format. The closest we’ve ever come is the short film Battle at Big Rock (2019) from Jurassic World (2015) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022) director Colin Trevorrow. And, following Dominion, we had a series of bite-sized live-action “webisodes.”
Related: ‘Jurassic Park’ Official Sequel: Everything We Know
Now, during a recent interview with CinemaBlend while discussing his new Peacock series Apples Never Fall (2024), Jurassic Park legacy actor Sam Neill, who is not expected to reprise his role as weary paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in the franchise having recently told Forbes “Maybe that’s it” for his character, responded to a question about whether the IP could work as a live-action television series with the standard eight-episode story arc:
Here are his full comments:
“I have no idea about that at all. All I can tell you is for some reason, well for lots of reasons, the Jurassic franchise seems to have a lot of momentum, and there’s new generations discovering it all the time. I mean, we made the first one 30 years ago or something, and kids love dinosaurs. I think it’s a franchise, it keeps being rediscovered. But whether it can sustain eight episodes, I have no idea.”
There are many directions the franchise could take on the small screen, but we’ll just have to wait and see whether a live-action Jurassic television series will happen. Never say never, though — with the new movie ramping up for a 2025 release, “a new Jurassic era” is about to begin, so who knows what else the future holds for this unstoppable franchise.
Jurassic World 4 is being written by Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) screenwriter David Koepp. Jurassic World producers Patrick Cowley and Frank Marshall are also back, while Steven Spielberg returns as executive producer. Paleontologists Steve Brusatte and Jack Horner are also returning as on-set advisors.
The film is being directed by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla 2014 and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story). Marvel star Scarlett Johansson is in talks with Universal to star as the new lead. No actors from the previous entries are expected to return.
Related: Upcoming ‘Jurassic World’ Prequel Set To “Correct” ‘Dominion’
There’s a lot more to be excited about than the new movie. The new animated series Chaos Theory will stream on Netflix later this year, and there’s also also a first-person, action-adventure video game titled Jurassic Park: Survival (TBA) in the works.
Would you like to see a live-action Jurassic television series? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!