Jurassic Park writer teases return to ‘spirit of the first movie’ for Jurassic World Rebirth

2 January 2025

‘Jurassic Park’ writer David Koepp has teased ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ will evoke the “spirit of the first movie”.

Jonathan Bailey and Scarlett Johansson

The 61-year-old screenwriter - who penned 1993's 'Jurassic Park' and its 1997 sequel ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park’ with director Steven Spielberg - is returning to the franchise for its next instalment, and has hinted ‘Rebirth’ will honour the original while also bringing “a new tone” to the series.

In an interview with TheWrap, Koepp said: “[We are trying to capture] the spirit of the first movie, which is the tone that we would like to get closest to.”

Keopp added it was “the idea of starting afresh” which persuaded him to pick up his pen once more for ‘Rebirth’.

He said: “You don't often get that chance, where they give you very few guidelines, except there must be dinosaurs in it.”

However, before he agreed to return to the ‘Jurassic’ franchise, Koepp had a list of demands he gave to Universal Pictures that the studio had to meet.

He explained: “Number one was – the events of the previous six movies cannot be denied or contradicted, because I hate a retcon.

“[Number two was] all science must be real. [Third was] humour is oxygen.”

Reflecting on coming back to the franchise, Koepp said it was “weird and trippy” for him to step back in time 30 years” for ‘Rebirth’.

He added: “It even smelled the same.

“It felt low pressure, even though Universal might be horrified to hear that.”

Looking back at ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘The Lost World’, Koepp said “writing those first two movies were some of [his] favourite experiences in [his] career so far”.

He added: “The combination of grand adventure and real science is right up my alley. And it was fun to be able to decide on a new tone, because every three movies seems like a good time to change tone and characters in a franchise.

“It was great to be able to work solely with Steven and make up a story and think of all new characters and all in a different tone.”

‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ - which stars Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali - is set five years after 2022’s ‘Dominion’, and will follow a team of scientists who race to extract DNA samples from three dinosaurs in an effort to find a ground-breaking medical breakthrough.

Previously, ‘Rebirth’ director Gareth Edwards said he hoped his 2025 film would kick off a new trilogy.

The 49-year-old filmmaker told Entertainment Weekly: “I can't speak for Universal, but it did feel like a new trilogy, in a way.

“I’m not sure what their plans are, but it felt like the beginning of a brand-new chapter in this franchise.”