Credit: Universal PicturesA bold new Jurassic Park “remake” has sparked a huge response from fans.
The upcoming Jurassic World Rebirth (2025), set for release on July 2, is set to recapture the tone of the original 1993 film. While rumors of genetic hybrids returning to the fold continue to circulate (please, just no), the seventh film in the series is expected to feature more paleontologically-accurate (or “paleo-accurate”) dinosaurs than previous sequels.
Directed by Gareth Edwards (2014’s Godzilla, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and written by David Koepp (Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park), Jurassic World Rebirth follows covert operations expert Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson), who’s tasked with retrieving world-changing genetic material from three colossal dinosaurs, a top-secret mission that goes sideways when she encounters a stranded family on a mysterious island.
While it remains to be seen just how grounded in real science the new film will be, in a recent interview with The Wrap, screenwriter David Koepp hinted that it will be backed by “real science.”
Fans may have forgotten how the original Jurassic Park took notable strides to make its dinosaurs as paleo-accurate as possible. Sadly, these efforts have been overshadowed by the recent Jurassic World films, which introduced more outlandish sci-fi concepts to the franchise, such as genetic hybrids and human clones. And, you know, super locusts.
Sure, the best-selling 1990 novel of the same name by Michael Crichton, whose dinosaurs are adapted practically like-for-like in the 1993 film, takes more than a few liberties in a bid to make its prehistoric stars, for lack of a better word, “cooler”.
For instance, T-Rex’s vision wasn’t based on movement, Dilophosaurus didn’t sport neck-frills or spit venom, and Velociraptor wasn’t a six-foot menace (we’ll circle back to that a bit later).
Jurassic World Rebirth will likely be no exception where its dinosaurs are concerned. Besides, Koepp has also stated that the previous six films won’t be retconned in any way, so it’s not like Rebirth can suddenly feature a T-Rex whose vision isn’t based on movement.
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Otherwise, the original film’s dinosaurs, particularly in their similarities to birds, were mostly backed by the science at the time. But since the film was released in theaters, paleontologists and dinosaur movie critics have pointed out the many inaccuracies with the film’s creatures (what a bunch of buzz-kills, right?).
Despite still being a beloved classic, one of the biggest issues scientists and many fans have with Jurassic Park regarding its paleo-accuracy is how some its dinosaurs don’t have feathers, something paleontologists have since proven was definitely the case.
However, later sequels like Jurassic Park III (2001) and the more recent Jurassic World Dominion (2022) implemented such designs (with dinosaurs like T-Rex, Velociraptor, Pyroraptor, and Therizinosaurus), while the very “meta” Jurassic World (2015) acknowledges the franchise’s paleo-inaccuracies, with Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong) telling Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan) that if the dinosaurs’ “genetic code was pure,” that “many of them would look quite different.” Get it? Nice job breaking the fourth wall there, Henry.
The truth is that the Jurassic films are filled with paleo-inaccuracies, although most of them are deliberate for the purpose of dramatic effect. And, you know, to sell lots of toys and movie theaters tickets. The lagoon-dwelling Mosasaurus wasn’t quite as big in real life as it is in the Jurassic World trilogy, and the Velociraptors didn’t have Einstein-level intelligence.
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The franchise has always known this–after all, these dinosaurs are all genetic hybrids because InGen used DNA from African bullfrogs to fill in the gaps in their genome sequence (just be grateful that none of the dinosaurs hop around or catch flies with their tongues).
Or, as Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) so eloquently puts it in the third film, the dinosaurs at Jurassic Park are nothing more than “genetically engineered theme park monsters.”
Still, this hasn’t stopped one Jurassic fan from re-creating an iconic scene from the original film in a bid to make it more paleo-accurate: the infamous kitchen sequence where Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim (Joseph Mazzello) are desperately trying to hide from two Velociraptors in the dark, with nothing but their wit and shiny stainless steel to help them.
Watch the video from CoolioArt below, in which the film’s scaly raptors have been replaced with nightmarish feathered versions, courtesy of the 3D creation suite, Blender:
Pointing out another inaccuracy with the film’s super-smart apex predators besides the absence of prehistoric plumage, the creator explains in the video’s caption: “The animal depicted in this remake is not Velociraptor! They’re an oversized Deinonychus antirrhopus, as was the case in the books and original film, just incorrectly lumped into the genus Velociraptor, making them ‘Velociraptor Antirrhopus.’ Not Velociraptor mongoliensis, the animal we know as Velociraptor. The real Deinonychus antirrhopus was about half the size of these guys on average, definitely still able to kill a human though! Otherwise, I have tried to keep them completely faithful to the real dinosaur.”
They’re absolutely right–Velociraptors were small, turkey-sized dinosaurs whereas the very similar Deinonychus were six feet in height, much like the “raptors” you see in the film. Essentially, it’s a case of identity theft. But why? Well, probably because “Velociraptor” sounds a lot cooler and rolls off the tongue more easily.
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In a pinned comment on the video on YouTube, the creator adds, “If this video gets a septillion likes (and no less) I’ll do the whole movie.” While the re-created kitchen scene is impressive, we’ll stick to scaly raptors, thanks–these ones are far too creepy.
Although it sounds like a lot of fans are impressed and would like to see more.
“Dinosaur paleontologist here,” one commentor says. “PHENOMENAL work! Your attention to detail is brilliant on the feathers and eyes, and the little avian flourishes in the Deinonychus’ movement really sells them as real animals. Thank you so much for making this — it’s a perfect video to counter when people say ‘Feathered dinosaurs aren’t scary’.”
Another also praises the work, saying they’d like to see the whole film remade with paleo-accurate dinosaurs: “Long time fan of the original Jurassic Park here. You are the only person I know of who managed to improve the masterpiece. I would totally watch the whole thing done like this. Thank you.”
“I’m shocked at how seamless the shot of the raptor slipping in the freezer is. That is sensational CG work.”
Since being uploaded to YouTube two weeks ago, the video has amassed 703K views and nearly 5,000 comments.
When Can I Watch Jurassic World Rebirth?
Jurassic World Rebirth arrives in theaters worldwide on July 2, 2025.
The movie stars Scarlett Johansson (Avengers: Endgame), Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton), and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Lincoln Lawyer). Additional cast members include 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).
Would you like to see paleo-accurate dinosaurs in Jurassic World Rebirth? Let us know in the comments below!