Jurᴀssic World Rebirth writer David Koepp teases how the new film builds upon its predecessors while introducing new ideas. Based on Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel, the franchise started off strong in terms of quality and critical reception. However, the more recent Jurᴀssic World trilogy, while performing well at the box office, diverted from the horror and cerebral roots of its source material for broader blockbuster thrills, leading to increasingly negative reviews. Jurᴀssic World Rebirth has so far been teased as an film that will bring the franchise back to the elements that made it exceptional.

Speaking with Slash Film, Koepp spoke about the new direction the franchise is headed in. He made sure to note that the new movie won’t be retconning anything from its predecessors, and that the new ideas were instead speculations about how the onscreen world has changed over the past five years. Read his comments below:

We didn’t want to deny any events that occurred. [The new film is set] in that world. But how might that world have changed in the last five years, and whose story is this now? So it was a chance to start over, and still play in this incredibly fun sandbox with the enthusiasm of a big studio behind you. It was the best of all possible worlds. And Steven and I got to do the absolute most fun part of filmmaking, which is, ‘Hey, what if…’ and then you just make up stuff.

What This Means For Jurᴀssic World Rebirth

An Exciting Chance To Start Over While Respecting What Came Before

Koepp’s comments effectively paint a clearer picture of the new movie’s intentions and its relationship with the two previous trilogies. The groundwork laid by its predecessors presents Jurᴀssic World Rebirth with an established lore ripe with opportunity. It seems like the creative team behind the film is taking advantage of this, creating new ideas while staying within the sandbox that is the franchise, utilizing one of the most common, but also most exciting writing prompts: “What if?”

While the prompt is more commonly used to present alternate realities and outcomes of significant events within a franchise, almost feeling like fan-fiction — perhaps most prominently seen in the Marvel show What If…? — Koepp and his collaborators seemed to have taken a more canonical approach with Jurᴀssic World Rebirth. Their new ideas might align with the powerful themes of the folly of man and the dangers of advancement alongside the horror tropes present in the first two movies of the original trilogy, thus paving the way for a fresh yet familiar narrative.

Our Take On Koepp’s Comments

Hopefully, The New Direction Isn’t Too Outlandish

A plotline for the Jurᴀssic World trilogy was the weaponizing of dinosaurs with the intention of using them for war, something I found implausible and somewhat outlandish. As long as Koepp and his collaborators strayed away from such fantastical ideas, I can see myself advocating for the film’s success.

I do have high hopes, as the film is being helmed by Godzilla and Rogue One director Gareth Edwards, who has a knack for marinating his films in gritty and grounded tones. ᴀssuming that’s what he was brought onto the project for, I’m confident that Jurᴀssic World Rebirth’s ideas will return the franchise to its thought-provoking and terrifying form while steering it in a unique direction.

Source: Slash Film