Jurassic World Rebirth: Can Humanity Survive the Island?

Universal Pictures released the final trailer for Jurassic World Rebirth just in time to catch fans’ attention before the film arrives in theaters over the Fourth of July weekend. Directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali, the film is set for release on July 2, 2025. Jurassic World Rebirth is the first new start for the Jurassic World franchise, but one that also returns to where it all began, quite literally. If the title is any indication, Jurassic World Rebirth might have a twofold meaning. It will both reboot the series but also revive the narrative from the first Jurassic Park film. After all, this time around, the action will take place at the original Jurassic Park island, where a team of scientists is returning in an attempt to clone dinosaur DNA to make a “miracle drug.”

Jurassic World Rebirth is the fourth film in the Jurassic World series and the seventh Jurassic World franchise film, following Jurassic Park (1993) from director Steven Spielberg. Jurassic World Rebirth is helmed by Gareth Edwards, who previously directed 2014’s Godzilla. David Koepp, who wrote the first Jurassic Park as well as the follow-up, The Lost World (1997), penned the script for the new film.

The official synopsis of the film states that it is set five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion. Dinosaurs have become an endangered species, as the earth’s ever-changing ecosystem has made survival for them nearly impossible. The few remaining dinosaurs are slowly being driven to extinction and are now corralled in narrow bands around the equator, where the biosphere is stable and closer to what it once was during the Mesozoic Era. But the largest three dinosaurs on land, sea, and air can all be found in the same tropical biosphere. Scientists believe that they each have a unique genetic marker that, when combined, could produce an experimental, life-saving miracle drug.

Scarlett Johansson plays Zora Bennett, a covert ops leader brought in to lead a team of specialists on a black-ops mission to find that genetic material. But the mission takes a turn for the worse when it intersects with a family on a boating vacation. The boat is attacked by an aquatic dinosaur, and the survivors wash ashore on a previously unexplored, long-abandoned island that used to host a Jurassic Park black-ops research center. According to the trailer, the island’s history might be darker and more nefarious than the dinosaurs that now reside there.

Meet the New Team

The film’s cast includes a new team as well as some familiar faces. As mentioned, Scarlett Johansson plays covert ops leader Zora Bennett, and Mahershala Ali is involved as well. Rupert Friend is Martin Krebs, a pharmaceutical company representative with shady motives. Jonathan Bailey is Henry Loomis, a paleontologist, while Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is Reuben Delgado, a family man with his wife (Bechir Sylvain is also on the mission team) and three children (portrayed by Luna Blaise, David Iacano, and Audrina Miranda). Ed Skrein and Philippine Velge also star in undisclosed roles.

Lots of the footage from the first trailer, released last February, made its way into this one. Some of the same lines from the first trailer are in this one as well. There is not much that is new in this trailer, but what it is shows that the film will have large-scale action, as well as the kind of jump-scares that audiences have come to expect. It opens with a tense laboratory sequence as a worker in a hazmat suit is stranded with a hungry T Rex. The scientist begs for help on his intercom as he is eaten. If that doesn’t capture your attention, then the trailer surely will.

One of the film’s major set pieces, also featured in the trailer, is an attempted heist of a pterosaur egg, which we can presume is from Quetzalcoatlus northropi. One of the characters mentions that it is a “flying carnivore the size of an F-16.” It is also fun to get a quick look at the classic raptors and a brand new aquatic threat: the mosasaur. Dialogue in the trailer also revealed that the island was used to contain “the worst of the worst,” or the most violent and aggressive dinosaurs that have ever been cloned.

Jurassic World Rebirth might have a new team and a new island, but it will not neglect the franchise’s legacy. The decision to return to the original Jurassic Park island is sure to trigger nostalgia in fans, and the new dinosaurs will introduce new unpredictable threats. Jurassic World Rebirth may be a new start for the Jurassic World series, but whether it is the reboot for the entire Jurassic World franchise, only time will tell. Nevertheless, this time around, it has an elite group of specialists, high-concept science, and some serious moral ambiguity as well. Combine that with its promise of more dinosaur chaos and destruction, Jurassic World Rebirth looks to be an exciting addition to the franchise.

As for the trailer, it is chock-full of action. There are multiple instances of escape sequences. Viewers will also be treated to scenes of characters sprinting through dense jungles, taking refuge in underwater wreckage, and outsmarting prehistoric beasts. Johansson, in particular, looks to add some grit and tactical rigor to the tried-and-true dinosaur survival story.

Jurassic World Rebirth will be available in theaters nationwide starting on July 2, 2025, just in time to bring down the house over the holiday weekend.