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Credit: Universal PicturesJurassic World Rebirth (2025) might have been a critical disaster, but it just got one step closer to dominating the entire franchise.
The latest film in the long-running Jurassic series was released last summer. Directed by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla 2014, Rogue One), written by David Koepp (Jurassic Park, The Lost World), and starring Scarlett Johansson, the seventh entry wipes the slate clean by killing off most of the dinosaurs around the world and returning to an island setting where a team of experts must retrieve life-saving dinosaur DNA while fending off mutant hybrids.
Related: ‘Jurassic World Rebirth 2’: Plot, Cast, Release Date, and Human-Dino Hybrids
Jurassic World Rebirth Commercial and Critical Reception
Rebirth grossed an impressive $869.1 million at the global box office against a budget of $180–225 million, becoming the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2025.
However, reviews were mostly mixed to negative, with cinemagoers, critics, and longtime fans citing its plot, characters, script, and underwhelming mutant dinos as its failings.
But now, the film has been nominated for an Academy Award, making it the first Jurassic sequel to receive an Oscar nomination in any category since 1997’s The Lost World (which was nominated for many, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects).
Surprising Award Nomination at 98th Oscars
According to an official report from American motion picture visual effects, computer animation, and stereo conversion digital studio Industrial Light & Magic, which handled the VFX for the latest Jurassic film, the five nominees for the 98th Oscars’ Best Visual Effects category are Avatar: Fire and Ash, F1, The Lost Bus, Sinners, and Jurassic World Rebirth.
As we’ve said, Rebirth isn’t the first film in the long-running film series to be nominated for an Academy Award; however, there’s no denying that the Jurassic sequel stands out from the other nominees because it’s the only one out of the five that received negative reviews — even if the film’s VFX should indeed be treated as a separate entity to the rest of the film.
Related: ‘Jurassic World Rebirth 2’ Announcement: What To Expect
“Artists from Industrial Light & Magic earned two nominations in the category,” a statement from ILM reads. “For Jurassic World Rebirth, our ILM nominees include production visual effects supervisor David Vickery, animation supervisor Stephen Aplin, and ILM visual effects supervisor Charmaine Chan, along with special effects supervisor Neil Corbould.”
There’s no denying that Rebirth‘s Spinosaurs and Mosasaur in particular are startlingly realistic at times, even if mutant dinosaurs like the Distortus Rex fail to impress visually.
Even the most criticized Jurassic films have seldom failed to leave audiences stunned with their dinosaurs, whether practical or digital (Rebirth seemingly opted mostly for the latter).
Related: ‘Jurassic Park’ Officially Hitting Reset After ‘Rebirth’ Ruins Film Series
With all that said, the film received mixed to negative reviews from audiences and critics. While some cinemagoers favored the latest sequel from the Jurassic series, others — particularly longtime fans — criticized the script, character development, and overall plot.
The first Jurassic Park (1993), directed by Steven Spielberg, won 20 awards, including three Academy Awards for technical achievements in visual effects and sound design.
Where the franchise’s dinosaur VFX is concerned, the consensus is that none of the sequels have improved upon the original. While some of Rebirth‘s dinosaurs are impressive, ultimately, it fails to recapture the magic of its World predecessors, let alone the 1993 film.
Jurassic World Rebirth 2
Either way, with $869.1 million under its belt, and now an Academy Award nomination, Universal Pictures is unlikely to ignore that success.
Rumors point to a sequel being in development, with director Gareth Edwards and actors Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali being in negotiations to return.
While we still wait for confirmation, one thing’s for sure — we’re unlikely to see the Jurassic Park brand ever return to theaters. The franchise was repackaged into Jurassic World with the release of the film of the same name in 2015, which earned $1.6 billion worldwide.
Its sequel, Fallen Kingdom, grossed $1.310 billion in 2018, and the trilogy-topper Dominion took home $1.004 billion in 2022. Last year, Rebirth came shy of a billion. With that kind of success under the World banner, we may never see another Park movie in theaters again.
Jurassic World Rebirth stars 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).
The 98th Oscars will be held on Sunday March 15, at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.
Are you excited about the possibility of another Jurassic World Rebirth? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!