Jurassic World Rebirth

Development of a new Jurassic World film began after Jurassic World Dominion (2022) concluded the second trilogy centered on Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. Universal Pictures confirmed in early 2024 that a new installment was in development, with a release date of July 2, 2025. David Koepp, who had co-written the original 1993 Jurassic Park screenplay with Michael Crichton, returned to pen the script. In February 2024, it was reported that David Leitch was initially in talks to direct, but by the end of the month, Gareth Edwards—known for Monsters (2010), Godzilla (2014), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), and The Creator (2023)—was officially announced as director. Edwards was selected for his distinctive visual style and his experience directing large-scale creature features, qualities considered ideal for reinvigorating the franchise. Longtime franchise producers Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley returned as producers, with Steven Spielberg serving as executive producer alongside Denis L. Stewart and Jim Spencer.

The film marked a significant cast turnover from the previous trilogy. Scarlett Johansson leads as Zora Bennett, a skilled covert operations expert contracted to lead the extraction mission. Two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali plays Duncan Kincaid, Zora's most trusted team member. Jonathan Bailey, fresh from his role in Wicked (2024), portrays paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis. Rupert Friend appears as Martin Krebs, a representative of a pharmaceutical company funding the mission, who serves as one of the film's antagonists. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo plays Reuben Delgado, the father of a civilian family whose catamaran is capsized by aquatic dinosaurs, stranding them on the island alongside the extraction team. The Delgado family also includes Luna Blaise, David Iacono, and Audrina Miranda. Philippine Velge, Bechir Sylvain, and Ed Skrein round out the ensemble as members of the extraction and security crews.

Set in approximately 2027, five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet's ecology has proven largely inhospitable to the de-extinct dinosaurs. Most species have died off or retreated to isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling those of the Mesozoic Era. Scientists discover that the three most massive surviving dinosaur species—a Titanosaurus on land, a Mosasaurus in the sea, and a Quetzalcoatlus in the air—carry a unique compound in their DNA that could serve as the basis for a miraculous life-saving drug. Zora Bennett is contracted by pharmaceutical representative Martin Krebs to lead a top-secret mission to the island to collect blood samples from these living creatures. Dr. Henry Loomis, a paleontologist, joins the team to provide scientific expertise.

When the team's operation intersects with the Delgado family, whose boat was attacked by marine dinosaurs, all parties find themselves stranded on a forbidden island that once housed a secret research facility tied to the original Jurassic Park. On the island, they encounter not only the expected dinosaur inhabitants—including Spinosaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex, Baryonyx, and Nasutoceratops—but also the horrifying results of undisclosed genetic experiments: mutant creatures known as Mutadons and, most terrifyingly, the Distortus rex (D-Rex), a grotesquely mutated Tyrannosaurus that serves as the film's primary creature antagonist.

Jurassic World Rebirth features a wide array of dinosaur and prehistoric animal species. The three target species central to the plot are the Titanosaurus, the Mosasaurus, and the Quetzalcoatlus. The film also prominently features the return of the Spinosaurus—last seen in Jurassic Park III (2001)—redesigned with a more scientifically accurate appearance including a flatter skull and an aquatic-adapted body. The Tyrannosaurus rex makes a memorable appearance in a river-raft chase sequence adapted from Michael Crichton's original Jurassic Park novel.

Among the new creatures, the Distortus rex (commonly called the D-Rex) is the film's signature creation: a hideously mutated Tyrannosaurus resulting from the island's secret genetic experiments. The Mutadons are other mutant dinosaurs found in the abandoned laboratory. On a lighter note, the Aquilops—a small herbivorous ceratopsian—is featured as an animatronic puppet nicknamed "Dolores" by the characters, and was widely praised by critics as a charming, Spielbergian touch reminiscent of the franchise's capacity for wonder alongside terror.

Principal photography took place from June to September 2024 across multiple international locations. Thailand served as the primary filming location, with national parks such as Ao Phang Nga National Park, Hat Chao Mai National Park, and areas around Krabi standing in for the film's tropical island setting. Director Gareth Edwards had previously filmed The Creator in Thailand, giving the production team established relationships with local crews and authorities. Additional shooting occurred in Malta and at studios in the United Kingdom, while some early scenes were filmed in New York City.

Edwards and cinematographer chose to shoot on 35mm film using Panavision cameras with anamorphic lenses—the same format Steven Spielberg used for the original 1993 Jurassic Park. This decision was made to give the film a more organic, textured visual quality compared to the digital cinematography of the previous Jurassic World trilogy. Visual effects were supervised by David Vickery, with the CG dinosaurs receiving praise from several critics for their tangibility, particularly in underwater sequences featuring the Mosasaurus.

While the film is predominantly CGI for its dinosaur effects, practical animatronics were used for select creatures, most notably the Aquilops "Dolores," whose puppet work was singled out by critics including those at The Hollywood Reporter and Variety as a welcome return to practical effects.

Jurassic World Rebirth opened on July 2, 2025, timed to the American Fourth of July holiday weekend. It earned approximately $30.5 million on its opening Wednesday and accumulated $147.8 million domestically over its first five days—the biggest global opening of any Hollywood film in 2025 at that time, with a worldwide five-day total of approximately $318–322 million.

The film went on to cross $500 million worldwide by its third weekend, $700 million by its fifth weekend, and $800 million by its sixth weekend. By the end of its theatrical run, Box Office Mojo recorded a domestic gross of $339,640,400 and an estimated international gross of approximately $526 million, for a worldwide total of approximately $865–869 million. This made it the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2025. While this represented a significant decline from the billion-dollar performances of Jurassic World (2015, $1.67 billion) and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018, $1.31 billion), it was considered a solid commercial success given its estimated production budget of $180–225 million.

In South Korea, the film was released under the title 쥬라기 월드: 새로운 시작 (literally "Jurassic World: A New Beginning") on July 2, 2025, the same day as the U.S. release. It debuted at No. 1 at the Korean box office, drawing 150,000 viewers on its opening day and surpassing 1 million admissions within its first week. By July 20, cumulative admissions exceeded 2 million, and the final tally reached approximately 2.23 million admissions. Korean audience reception was notably warmer than Western critical response, with the CGV Golden Egg Index recording 99% audience satisfaction.

Reviews were mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a critics score of approximately 51% (fluctuating between 51–58% during its opening week as more reviews were counted) based on over 250 reviews, with a critics consensus stating: "Going back to basics with rip-roaring set pieces and fossilized clichés, Jurassic World Rebirth doesn't evolve this prehistoric franchise but does restore some of its most reliable DNA." The audience score settled at approximately 72%. On Metacritic, the film received a score of 50 out of 100 based on 55 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews," with a user score of 5.3. CinemaScore audiences gave it a B grade, the second-lowest in franchise history (tied with Jurassic World Dominion). On IMDb, it holds a user rating of 5.9 out of 10.

Positive reviews praised the film's return to a more contained, survival-thriller format. The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney noted the film would please "longtime fans" and praised the CG work and the Spielbergian touches. Critics at Consequence, Digital Spy, and ComicBookMovie.com called it among the best set pieces in the franchise since the original 1993 film, particularly singling out a T-Rex raft chase adapted from Crichton's novel and a Quetzalcoatlus nest sequence. Gareth Edwards's direction was praised for competent action staging and atmospheric visuals, with comparisons to Jaws in the film's open-water first act.

Negative reviews criticized the screenplay as shallow, predictable, and overly reliant on nostalgia. IndieWire's David Ehrlich wrote that the film "so frequently harkens back to the original" that "the extent to which this franchise is just fending off its own extinction has never been more obvious." Several critics noted that the strong cast—particularly Johansson, Ali, and Bailey—was underserved by thin character development. The Distortus rex and mutant dinosaur concepts divided opinion, with some finding them an interesting new direction and others viewing them as tonally inconsistent with the franchise's identity.

Jurassic World Rebirth occupies a distinctive position in the franchise as the first film designed as a clean narrative break from both the original Jurassic Park trilogy (1993–2001) and the Jurassic World trilogy (2015–2022). None of the cast members from either previous trilogy appear, and the story is structured as a largely standalone adventure. The return of David Koepp as screenwriter was intended to reconnect the series with its roots in Michael Crichton's original storytelling sensibility.

The film is the seventh entry in the overall franchise, which has grossed over $6 billion worldwide across all installments since 1993. While Rebirth did not reach the billion-dollar threshold of the first two Jurassic World films, its approximately $869 million global gross—achieved despite mixed critical reception—demonstrated the franchise's continued commercial viability and audience appetite for dinosaur spectacle.

Rotten Tomatoes' ranking of all seven Jurassic films places the original Jurassic Park (1993) at No. 1 with 91%, followed by Jurassic World (2015) at 72%, The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) at 54%, Jurassic World Rebirth (2025) at approximately 51%, Jurassic Park III (2001) at 50%, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) at 47%, and Jurassic World Dominion (2022) at 29%. By this metric, Rebirth sits roughly in the middle of the franchise in terms of critical standing.

Whether the film signals a new direction for future installments remains an open question. Some critics noted that it functions well as a standalone story without clearly setting up a sequel, while others pointed to its commercial success as likely ensuring further entries in the franchise.