More than thirty years after Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park first sent moviegoers running from rampaging dinosaurs, the franchise is still proving its staying power. Last summer’s Jurassic World Rebirth—the seventh film in the blockbuster series—roared into theaters with a fresh cast and a new direction, and its success has fans and industry insiders buzzing about what’s next for the prehistoric juggernaut.
According to ComicBook.com, Jurassic World Rebirth marked a major shift for the franchise. Scarlett Johansson, known for her roles in Avengers: Endgame and a host of other blockbusters, stepped into the lead role, replacing Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady as the human face of the dino drama. The gamble paid off: the film grossed a staggering $869.1 million worldwide, a figure that would make any studio executive’s heart skip a beat—even if critics were less than enamored, with reviews ranging from mixed to negative.
Universal Pictures, the studio behind the franchise, has a history of moving quickly when a Jurassic film proves to be a hit. As Inside the Magic points out, the gap between Jurassic World (2015) and its sequel Fallen Kingdom (2018) was just three years, and only four years separated Fallen Kingdom from Dominion (2022), with pandemic delays taken into account. Rebirth itself was officially greenlit in January 2024 and hit cinemas a mere 18 months later. With such a proven formula, it’s little wonder that rumors of a sequel are already swirling.
Industry sources cited by both outlets suggest that Universal is already laying the groundwork for the next installment. Reports indicate that director Gareth Edwards, who helmed Rebirth, is expected to return, and negotiations are underway for the main cast—Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey among them—to reprise their roles. While nothing is official yet, the pieces appear to be falling into place for another dino-sized adventure.
But what about Chris Pratt, whose portrayal of Owen Grady anchored the previous trilogy and helped propel each film to over $1 billion in global receipts? Fans have been vocal in their curiosity, especially since Rebirth made no mention of Owen Grady, signaling a clean break from the stories told in the first three Jurassic World films. In a recent appearance on the podcast Happy Sad Confused, Pratt addressed the possibility of returning to the franchise. “Maybe, yeah. I think so. That would be awesome,” Pratt said, according to ComicBook.com. “I love that character, I love the team, I love Universal. Love Scarlett. I think that would be epic. We’d just have to find a way to do it in a way that honors the stories that we told the first three times.”
Pratt’s comments strike a chord with longtime fans, who remember how the original trilogy brought back beloved characters from Jurassic Park—Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, and Laura Dern—creating moments of nostalgia and continuity. Still, as Pratt himself notes, any return would need to feel organic and not forced. The franchise, after all, has always put dinosaurs front and center, with human characters often serving as little more than running (or screaming) targets. “We’d just have to find a way to do it in a way that honors the stories that we told the first three times,” Pratt emphasized, making it clear that shoehorning in old faces for the sake of it would do more harm than good.
The question of how to balance legacy and innovation is one that has dogged the franchise for years. Jurassic World Rebirth introduced not just a new cast, but also a new setting and a menagerie of mutant dinosaurs, including the fearsome D-Rex, all unleashed on a third InGen island called Ile Saint-Hubert. According to Inside the Magic, any sequel is likely to build on this new foundation rather than hit the reset button. The trend in recent films has been to up the ante with each outing, moving from dinosaur hybrids to human clones and even global ecological threats. If history is any guide, the next installment could push the envelope even further, delving into more outlandish—and perhaps more thrilling—territory.
One thing is certain: the box office numbers speak for themselves. Despite the critical hand-wringing, audiences continue to flock to the franchise in droves. The enduring appeal of dinosaurs—brought to life with ever more dazzling visual effects—seems to transcend concerns about narrative or character depth. As ComicBook.com observes, “The main attraction has and always will be the dinosaurs, so an argument can be made that it ultimately doesn’t matter who the human characters are as long as there are some for the dinosaurs to chase around.”
Still, the idea of seeing Pratt and Johansson share the screen is tantalizing. The two actors, both veterans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (though their characters never interacted there), could bring a fresh dynamic to the series. Pratt himself expressed enthusiasm about the prospect, telling ComicBook.com that working with Johansson would be “epic.” Fans can only imagine the chemistry they might bring to a story of survival against prehistoric odds.
For now, though, details remain scarce. Universal has yet to officially announce a follow-up to Rebirth, but the studio’s confidence in the franchise appears unshaken. With the commercial success of the latest film, the return of a proven director, and the likely involvement of its new stars, it seems less a question of “if” and more a matter of “when” the next chapter will arrive. And if the franchise’s history is any indication, fans won’t have to wait long for another dose of dinosaur-fueled mayhem.
As the Jurassic saga continues to evolve, one thing remains clear: whether it’s new faces, old favorites, or new breeds of monstrous reptiles, audiences are still hungry for more. With rumors swirling and anticipation building, the only real question is—who will be running for their lives next time the dinosaurs break loose?
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