Summary
The rumored storyline for the upcomingJurassic World 4highlights a major narrative problem that the franchise has struggled with since its very first sequel way back in 1997. Since theJurassicseries is one of the only guaranteed hit-makers in a troubled film industry, Universal has fast-trackedJurassic World 4for a release date of June 20, 2025.The Creator’s Gareth Edwards is in the director’s chair, hoping to revitalize the franchise with a brand-new cast featuring such beloved stars as Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali. But the film’s rumored storyline leaves a lot to be desired.
Ever since Steven Spielberg’s originalJurassic Parkarrived as the highest-grossing movie of all time in 1993, Universal has been trying to replicate that success with sequels. But, five sequels in, the franchise still hasn’t been able to copy the lightning-in-a-bottle smash-hit success of Spielberg’s trailblazing masterpiece. TheJurassic Worldmovies managed to top Spielberg’s box office numbers, butnone of theJurassicsequels have enjoyed the universal acclaim of the first film.Jurassic World 4was initially a promising prospectfor the franchise’s future, but now, it looks like it’s just making the same mistakes all over again.
Jurassic World 4 Rebooting The Franchise Makes 1 Decision Already Very Confusing
After the failure of Jurassic World: Dominion, the new movie is set to be a complete reboot. That complicates one crucial decision for the franchise.
Jurassic World 4’s Story Promise Is Conflicting With Itself
It can’t simultaneously kickstart a new era AND go back to its roots
Thestory ofJurassic World 4will reportedly follow a group consisting ofthree adults and three teenagers who all get stranded on Isla Nublar with the leftover dinosaurs. It sounds likeJurassic World 4will be eating its own tail, so to speak. The whole point of kickstarting a new trilogy, bringing in a visionary new director to take the reins, and casting a brand-new ensemble of characters was to begin a new era for theJurassicsaga. But how can it start a new era if it’s also going back to its roots and staying on the island?
The rumored title for the new movie,Jurassic City, promised a much more exciting premise. It sounded like a dinosaur kaiju movie set in an urban environment where fleeing survivors would have to evade attacking dinos in collapsing skyscrapers and destroyed subway tunnels. It would finally live up to the promise ofFallen Kingdom’s cliffhanger ending, in which the dinosaurs made it out to mainland America. But it seems as thoughJurassic World 4is content to just rehash the earlier sequels instead of charting its own course and figuring out a story of its own.
Jurassic World 4 Faces The Same Problems Every Other Jurassic Movie Has
Jurassic Park didn’t open itself up to sequels
Based on the scarce story details,Jurassic World 4sounds like it’ll copyJurassic Worldby supposedly kicking off a brand-new era of the franchise but really just repeating what came before. But it’s really a bigger problem that’s baked into the entire franchise:there’s not really anywhere to go after the first movie. The author of the original source material, Michael Crichton, faced this problem himself when he wrote the sequel novel,The Lost World, which became the second movie in the series. The first novel/film closed the book on the park and resolved the story’s poignant themes.
WithJurassic World 4, the producers could either just copy the original park-goes-awry storyline, likeJurassic Worlddid, or try to make it bigger, likeThe Lost WorldorDominion, by going beyond the island and into a larger world. Butthis franchise has never really had any idea how to actually franchise itselfand do unique, fresh things with each new installment (which is really just a fundamental issue with doing anotherJurassicmovie). This isn’tStar Warsor Marvel, where there are countless stories to tell within the universe;Jurassic Parkis pretty much a one-story premise.
10 Lessons Jurassic World 4 Can Learn From The Director’s Past Movies
Universal has hired The Creator’s Gareth Edwards to direct Jurassic World 4, and there are a few key lessons to take from Edwards' past movies.
Is There Hope For Jurassic World 4’s Story?
A Jurassic horror movie could work wonders
After three increasingly underwhelmingJurassic Worldmovies, it would be easy to take a cynical approach toJurassic World 4and assume that there’s no way to make it work. Plus, Universal’s rapid-paced schedule for the movie – rushing out a script, frantically bringing in a director, and racing it into production for a fast-approaching summer 2025 release date – doesn’t inspire a lot of hope. FromSuicide SquadtoStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, some of the worst blockbusters ever made have suffered from a rushed schedule. But there are some reasons to be optimistic.
Edwards has proven with hisGodzillaremake, hisStar WarsmovieRogue One, and his original sci-fi actionerThe Creatorthathe can work within the pressure cooker of the studio system to bring his own personal flair to a big-budget, shareholder-pleasing tentpole. He might have a completely fresh vision for theJurassicfranchise that will makeJurassic World 4a resounding success. But what could that vision be? And will it be enough to save the franchise?
He could go for something smaller and more contained.The great thing about the first film wasn’t its epic scope; it was its intimate focus on Alan Grant reluctantly bonding with the kidsplaced under his care in an unexpected fight for survival. If Edwards similarly focuses on character over spectacle, thenJurassic World 4could be a success. He could go for a more horror-tingedJurassicmovie. The best parts ofFallen Kingdomwent for a horror-like style, but the movie never fully committed to its horror setup. AJurassichorror movie could work wonders.
Jurassic World 4 Will Be A Success Regardless Of Its Story
Even Dominion topped $1 billion at the box office
Even ifJurassic World 4is a complete disaster, recycling the worst parts of previous sequels and failing to reignite the franchise’s spark, there’s no doubt that it’ll be a box office success. All threeJurassic Worldmovies managed to make over $1 billion globally – evenDominion, which arrived in a precarious post-COVID world and was widely panned by critics as theRise of Skywalkerof theJurassic Parkfranchise. Regardless ofDominion’s plot holes, creative missteps, and cheap reuse of legacy characters, it did deliver the one thing audiences expect from this franchise: dinosaur action.
At the end of the day, the appeal of this franchise is its dinosaurs. The spectacle of theJurassicsaga’s dinosaurs demands to be seen on the big screen, so audiences will always turn up to see it. Seeing dinosaurs brought back to life and wreaking havoc on the modern world is worth the price of admission. Even the first movie attracted audiences with its promise of dinosaur action; the great performances and thought-provokingFrankensteinstory were just the cherry on top.Jurassic World 4might (and probably will) end up being another let-down, but it’ll still be a hit.
Jurassic World Rebirth
Cast
Jurassic World Rebirth, set five years after Jurassic World Dominion, sees covert operations expert Zora Bennett guiding a team to obtain dinosaur genetic material. Their mission collides with a stranded family on a perilous island, uncovering a long-buried secret.
