The news that we’re going to be getting yet another Jurassic Park movie wasn’t exactly surprising, we knew the recent Jurassic trilogy wasn’t necessarily the last, but the initial announcement of its director, John Wick’s David Leitch, was a bit surprising. Unfortunately, almost as quickly as Leitch’s name came up, he withdrew from the project. His replacement, Godzilla’s Gareth Edwards, is unlikely to leave similarly, as he is a massive Jurassic Park fan.
Speaking with Collider as part of an event for his 2024 Oscar-nominated sci-fi drama The Creator, Edwards said that he wasn’t looking to direct a new project in the short term, and had been starting work on an entirely new idea when the new Jurassic Park movie came his way. He calls the film a “dream” saying this was the one project that would have made him change his plans because he loves the first movie so much. Edwards explained…
I was about to take a break and I started writing my next idea for a film and this is the only movie that would make me drop everything like a stone and dive right in. I love Jurassic Park. I think the first movie is a cinematic masterpiece…so this opportunity is like a dream to me. And to work with Frank Marshall and Universal and David Koepp, who’s writing the script, I think they’re all legends. So I’m just very excited.
As a fan of the original Jurassic Park, which Edwards calls a “masterpiece” he’s very excited to work with people who were involved with that film. And that sort of passion, while it’s certainly not a guarantee the new film will be great, is the sort of thing that can help a project. The desire to make something that lives up to the thing you love can help you give that extra effort, and as a director, motivate everybody else involved in the project to do the same.
Edwards was 18 years old when the first Jurassic Park came out, so he was probably the perfect age for the blockbuster, one of the best sci-fi movies ever, to have a serious impact on him, and, as it did for many of us around that age, and completely change the way he saw movies up to that point. He doesn’t say Jurassic Park was the movie that made him want to be a filmmaker, but it certainly wouldn’t be a shock if that was the case.
Beyond the fact that David Koepp is writing a new Jurassic Park movie that Gareth Edwards will direct, nothing is known about the new film, or what is more than likely planned to be a new series of films. Where it will fit in the franchise, and what new or returning characters we will see, is all the mystery. However, we may get answers very soon, as it sounds like there are hopes the new Jurassic Park could be in theaters as early as next year, meaning production could be getting underway very soon.