Jurassic World Rebirth embraces hardcore horror: ‘I waited for the studio to say no’

Jurassic World Rebirth’s director ‘cranked up’ the scare-factor in the new dinosaur film, bringing the franchise back to its horror roots.

British filmmaker Gareth Edwards helms the latest movie in the Jurassic universe, which first hit screens in 1993 with original director Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park.

The film had a huge impact on popular culture’s perception of prehistoric creatures, including Velociraptor and Triceratops – as well as the big baddie, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, a 40-foot-long carnivorous dinosaur.

Spielberg and screenwriter David Koepp kept audiences tense and terrified with the stealth and size of the T-Rex, as well as creating classic cinematic tropes, such as water rippling in a glass as the massive beast approached for its grand onscreen reveal.

Speaking at Jurassic World Rebirth’s London premiere on Tuesday, 50-year-old Edwards said he wanted to make the new movie as scary as possible.

‘I feel like the original Jurassic Park is really a horror movie on the witness protection programme, pretending to be a family adventure – but we all know it’s a scary horror film,’ he told Metro when asked about returning to the franchise’s horror beginnings.

‘It was just a really good excuse – especially as being an adult now, it’s harder to get scared. So we just cranked that up a little bit and wanted to go as far as we could.’

However, he confessed that he didn’t think Universal would let him get away with as much horror content as they did.

‘I kept waiting for the studio to come along and say, “No, no, no – think of the kids, stop” – and they never did! I think they felt the same way and kids are a lot more mature than we give them credit [for and they want to be scared.’

Edwards likened the thrills and scares of Jurassic World Rebirth to a theme park ride.

‘It’s like a roller-coaster where you’re safe, a dinosaur’s not going to come out and get you after you finish the film, I don’t think – but you never know.’

‘The movie felt like that; you want to be afraid. You want to go in and feel the tension and get the anxiety. I’ve probably failed at my job if not.’    

Edwards, who is also known for helming 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as well as original sci-fi The Creator, was announced as director for the film in February 2024 before its cast – including self-confessed Jurassic ‘total nerd’ Scarlett Johansson and Wicked star Jonathan Bailey – later came onboard for a five-month shoot.

Jurassic World Rebirth has teased dinosaurs such as Mosasaurus, Spinosaurus and Quetzalcoatlus, as well as, of course, the return of the T-Rex.

There’s also a new main antagonist, the Distortus rex, the design of which was inspired by the xenomorphs of the Alien franchise.

Set 32 years after dinosaurs were brought back from extinction thanks to the events of Jurassic Park, Jurassic World Rebirth follows a top-secret expedition including Johannson’s former military operative Zora Bennett, Bailey’s bespectacled palaeontologist Dr Henry Loomis, Rupert Friend as pharmaceutical rep Martin Krebs and Mahershala Ali’s team leader Duncan Kincaid.

The group braves the forbidden isolated equatorial regions where dinosaurs still roam freely to extract DNA from three massive prehistoric creatures in the hopes of a major medical breakthrough.

Jurassic World Rebirth is the seventh feature-length film in the series, which also includes sequels 1997’s The Lost World and 2001’s Jurassic Park III as well as a rebooted phase started with 2015’s Jurassic World.

This was followed by Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022), which brought together stars from across the years including Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.

Koepp returned to pen the new film after exiting following The Lost World, while Spielberg remains on board as an executive producer.

Jurassic World Rebirth is released in cinemas on Wednesday, July 2.

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