Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady and Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire Dearing are not expected to return for the new film, nor are the stars of the original films such as Sam Neill (Alan Grant), Laura Dern (Ellie Sattler), or Jeff Goldblum (Ian Malcolm). It’s also not clear when the film will take place in the overall timeline, be it after the events of 2022’s “Jurassic World Dominion” or elsewhere. For the moment, we have far more questions than answers.
What’s clear is that Universal is very interested in keeping this money train moving down the tracks. To date, the “Jurassic” films have earned a combined $6 billion at the global box office, with “Dominion” ranking as one of the very few blockbusters that has crossed the $1 billion mark in the pandemic era. Coupled with the merchandise and other revenue streams, it’s not hard to see why the powers that be want more of these dinosaurs on the big screen.
As for Leitch, he has “The Fall Guy” due out in theaters later this summer as well as several other projects in development. He also directed 2017’s “Atomic Blonde” as well as 2022’s action flick “Bullet Train.” He has a solid resume of hits, which is a little different than the approach Universal took with 2015’s “Jurassic World.” Colin Trevorrow had never directed a big movie before helming the reboot, which wound up becoming one of the biggest movies in history. This time around, it seems they want a steady hand to guide the franchise into the future.
The new “Jurassic World” movie is currently set to hit theaters on July 2, 2025.