People love dinosaurs. This is indisputable, which is why Jurassic World: Rebirth arriving was inevitable. Now, with the movie set to open this summer — and an A-list cast assembled, including Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali and more — screenwriter David Koepp, who penned the original Jurassic Park, has revealed that the upcoming film includes a sequence lifted directly from Michael Crichton’s first novel—a moment that didn’t make it into Steven Spielberg’s 1993 blockbuster In a conversation with Variety about Rebirth, Koepp shared the excitement of revisiting the franchise decades later:
“The first two movies were two of my favorite experiences ever. And Steven [Spielberg] said, ‘What about starting over? Let’s try something all new.’ I said, ‘Oh, that’s a cool idea. What if blah, blah, blah,’ and then I threw an idea back. That’s it. It caught,” Koepp explained, which reignited the spark, although starting afresh with the franchise wasn’t exactly smooth sailing.
Koepp reflected on the pressures inherent to crafting a new Jurassic story: “Those are giant movies, so there’s a lot of expectations and there’s a lot of money. The level of tension and anxiety surrounding it is a lot higher.” Yet, he maintained that the joy of working on such a beloved property made the challenges worthwhile, adding, “Dinosaurs are still fun. Just to get back in that headspace 30 years later — is it still fun? And the answer is yes, it still really is.”
What ‘Jurassic Park’ Scene Will Be in ‘Rebirth’?
While Jurassic World: Rebirth isn’t adapting a specific Crichton book, the writers revisited both of the author’s novels for inspiration. Koepp revealed, “I reread the two novels to get myself back in that mode… There was a sequence from the first novel that we’d always wanted in the original movie, but didn’t have room for. We were like, ‘Hey, we get to use that now.’”
Though Koepp didn’t specify which scene from Crichton’s Jurassic Park novel finally made the cut, fans of the books will no doubt speculate about iconic sequences left out of Spielberg’s film. Could it be the river raft escape (that was turned into a ride at Universal Studios) or the tense aviary encounter (that was sort of covered in Jurassic Park 3)? Either way, it’s a thrilling opportunity to finally bring a long-discussed moment to life.
Jurassic World: Rebirth stomps into theaters this summer, releasing on July 2, 2025. Stay tuned to Collider for all the latest updates on the franchise.
