Scarlett Johansson Sequel Will Have Original’s DNA

Scarlett Johansson leads this July’s “Jurassic World: Rebirth,” one of the most anticipated blockbusters of the year. A new featurette about the sequel showcases the actress and her costars being interviewed to give fans a glimpse of what to expect. This new chapter “harkens back to the first film.”

New Story Goes ‘Back to Basics’

After three successful “Jurassic World” films starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, the franchise is going in a different direction with a new cast. According to IMDB, this new entry’s story takes place five years after the last film (‘Dominion’) and follows an expedition that braves isolated equatorial regions to extract DNA from three massive prehistoric creatures for a groundbreaking medical breakthrough.

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In the latest “Jurassic World: Rebirth” promo, Johansson and Jonathan Bailey let viewers know that the film’s “Rebirth” subtitle is a nod to the 1993 original that won 3 Oscars. “For anyone who loves the original ‘Jurassic’ films, this is the movie for you,” Bailey says. “I know that it will bring back the wonder of seeing ‘Jurassic’ for the first time.” Johansson adds, “We’ve really gone back to basics to imagine yourself in this circumstance on this Jurassic island.”

It won’t all be nostalgia though. Oscar winner Mahershala Ali teases that fans will meet “new types of dinosaurs” in this new chapter. Earlier this month at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Mahershala and Johansson unveiled new footage of the sequel with their director Gareth Edwards. According to Deadline, after a 43-piece orchestra led by notable music director Rickey Minor played the classic score, Johansson told the crowd, “We wanted to put the scares back in ‘Jurassic.'”

Sequence From ‘Jurassic Park’ Novel Added to New Film

Fans of the series are happy to know that the “Rebirth” screenwriter is David Koepp, who wrote the screenplays for the first two films “Jurassic Park” and “The Lost World.” He got the call from franchise producer Steven Spielberg about making “another one of those.”

Koepp, whose latest films are this year’s “Black Bag” and “Presence,” and Spielberg collaborated on ideas for “Rebirth” and pulled from the past. The writer states in the featurette that a tense sequence involving a raft was in the first novel, but didn’t make it in the first film. “One of the first things Steven and I said was, we got to get that raft sequence in some place.” Cue the swimming dinosaur and a young girl trying to escape.

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“Rebirth” director Edwards, who previously made “Godzilla” (2014) and “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” says that this script “felt like a love letter to Spielberg.” Edwards seems to have brought that idea to life as shots in the featurette invoke past Spielberg visuals, from previous “Jurassic” entries to “Jaws” (Johansson is serving Roy Scheider intensity on a boat with a gun at 1:33). He goes on to explain that he shot “Rebirth” on film, giving it a “naturalistic, cinematic quality.” The footage in this featurette sure does look pretty. Edwards adds, “It will have a lot of humor… but it also has a lot of very scary, very intense moments.” Prepare yourselves, audiences!

‘A Lifelong Dream’ For ‘Jurassic’ Fan Johansson

At the CinemaCon presentation on April 2nd, Oscar nominee Johansson spoke honestly on the mic: “It’s been a lifelong dream to be in a ‘Jurassic’ movie. Each time they were making a new one, I reached out and said I was available. This time, I went to Steven Spielberg directly and told him I would play any role even if I was eaten in the first five minutes.” Something tells us she’ll be in this film for much longer.

Universal will release “Jurassic World: Rebirth” around the world on July 2nd. According to Fandango, the upcoming movie tops their poll of the most anticipated summer movies of 2025.