Originally, it was reported that David Leitch (“Deadpool 2,” “Bullet Train”) was being eyed to direct the new “Jurassic” film, which remains without a title. I am a fan of Leitch’s work but that prospect didn’t get me nearly as jazzed. But Leitch departed the project quickly, seemingly because whoever is directing this thing won’t have a ton of input on the script. It’s going to be a “shoot the film Universal has in mind” situation, rather than an auteur bringing their vision. While that might sound like a recipe for something hollow, this is an area where Edwards has excelled in the past.
With “Godzilla,” Edwards was brought in by Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures to bring Toho’s classic kaiju to the big screen in America for the first time since the 1998 disaster directed by Rolan Emmerich. It was a potentially thankless job, especially for a guy who had only made the low-budget “Monsters” prior. But Edwards came in and brought a true perspective to what was put on the page by Dave Callaham and Max Borenstein. The result was a film that, though somewhat divisive, was a major commercial success that kicked off the Monsterverse franchise, which is still going strong to this day with “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” hitting theaters this year.
The impressive work on that franchise earned Edwards “Rogue One,” which was another super high-pressure job. The filmmaker had to craft the first ever standalone “Star Wars” movie not directly part of the Skywalker saga. Again, he was largely there to execute a story that was already being plotted out by the studio, as well as writers John Knoll and Gary Whitta. And again, Edwards executed on a tight timeline, delivering a $1 billion hit for Disney. Granted, Tony Gilroy had a big part to play in handling reshoots on the messy production, but it was ultimately Edwards’ movie — one that is still considered amongst the best “Star Wars” films produced under the Disney era of Lucasfilm.