Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp returning for “complete reboot” of the series
Even after every movie in the sequel trilogy made $1 billion, Universal is starting fresh
Aux News Jurassic Park
If the Jurassic Park movies are about mankind’s hubristic insistence on inciting our own obliteration, and the Jurassic World movies are about Hollywood’s hubristic insistence on trying to reclaim the glories of the past (even if those glories will eventually eat you), then what does it say about both humanity and Hollywood that Universal is moving forward with what Deadline says will be a “complete reboot” of the Jurassic Park series? Something damning, certainly, especially since the last Jurassic movie—Jurassic World Dominion—just came out in 2022.
But hey, everyone will always like seeing dinosaur movies, and each entry in the World trilogy made over $1 billion, so why the hell not make more? Universal’s new Jurassic movie will be written by David Koepp, who wrote the screenplay for the first two Jurassic Park movies, and Deadline says that nobody from the previous movies—including Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard from the new ones and Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill, and Laura Dern from the old ones—is “expected to return.”
That all seems good, since the World movies were so desperately beholden to the Park movies, and there’s no need to make the concept of a dinosaur theme park so limited by keeping it closely tied to what came before. These ideas need to be allowed to run free, chomping lawyers, stalking Robert Muldoon, and spitting on Wayne Knight like they would in the wild.
As for Koepp, he’s had what could be pretty safely described as an interesting career. He’s credited, either solo or with other writers, on Mission: Impossible, David Fincher’s Panic Room, the first Spider-Man movie, Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, Premium Rush, the Da Vinci Code sequels, and Steven Soderbergh’s Presence (the movie that freaked out Sundance this week). Also, he directed (but did not write) Johnny Depp’s Mortdecai, so he’s seen some wild shit. Imagine a dinosaur with a funny little mustache? Now there’s the energy the Jurassic series has been missing.
90 Comments
I’m ok with this. The Jurassic World franchise was so bad that I’m ok with forgetting it ever happened and letting someone try again.
Tiny elephant this time or GTFO.
So like Westworld was one park of many, Jurassic Park is one genetic chimera zoo out of many? Does InGen have a Pleistocene Park on an island off the coast of Iceland?
“Welcome, to Dodo Park!”
Turns out they’re very mean, so maybe they didn’t feel like dealing.
If I need a tiny elephant fix, I just watch Sky Captain ATWOT again.
I mean if they’re rebooting they could adhere to the book more closely, with the heroic lawyer character actually being one of the survivors instead of the dead hiding toilet weasel.
And all of Ian Malcom’s climate change denial!
I also always liked how in the book there are raptors on the mainland. That whole mystery start of the novel is a lot of fun, even though you already know what’s been biting the kids and tearing up the ingen workers. I wish this was an HBO show or mini-series but I’m still excited.
As a lawyer, I support this. His characterization in the original (which is still one of my favorite movies) was a bit cheap and lazy, and not even true. Any decent lawyer would have been wetting their pants over the liability involved in this place, not just having erections over the money to be made. A rich investment group with concerns about their investment would never have engaged such a slimy ambulance-chaser type.
Awesome! I hope it leans into the horror more. Let one of the child characters get eaten, dammit!
Or at least the guy whose hubris is responsible for a bunch of other deaths.
Actually, reading the deadline article it doesn’t seem like the plan is to re-adapt Jurassic Park. Which is a shame. I’m also a little troubled that they’re calling it a Jurassic World reboot and not a Jurassic Park reboot…
It is unfortunate but I kind of get it. The original JP movie and those versions of the characters are just too well known and too beloved that anything closer to the book versions would probably put a lot of people off.
Yeah, I see what you mean. I’d still love to see them readapt the book as a mini-series one day though. I think you could get away with that.
Oh definitely, something where they can explore the corporate espionage, the ethical dilemmas, all that in a mini series would be great and they could get away with it leaning more in to the scary aspects that the original movie had (at times) would be amazing.
If you’re going to hit reset, World is the place to do it. There’s no reason to believe a retelling of JP would be very well received. Like Ghostbusters, just too much downside risk. There’s plenty more they can do with the concept.
Greed finds a way.
“He’s credited, either solo or with other writers, on … the first Spider-Man movie…”That’s good!“…Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull…”Oh, that’s bad!
The screenplay isn’t the movie; a bad screenplay can make a great film and vice versa. But the final product isn’t always a strong indicator of the script. Also, if you work long enough in a creative field you’re bound to have some duds. No one bats 1000.
A bad screenplay cannot, in fact, make a good movie.
You’re right. A bad screenplay cannot make a good movie. But a talented creative team can make a good movie out of a bad script. The most famous examples of pretty underwhelming scripts include Gone Girl, Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, Point Break and Titanic. All benefited from serious upgrades of the material through the process of film making. No one wants to do it that way, but sometimes it’s the situation you’re dealt.
Wait, Gone Girl was a bad script?
The popcorn sold at the concession stand contains potassium benzoate.
*stares blankly*
That’s bad.
Can I go now?
You and FilthyWhore take all your stars … I’m sure they’ll make all your dreams come true …
Keep ‘em coming and quick! BD Wong won’t live forever!
They can clone him! Throw in some frog DNA just to see what happens.
Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could clone BD Wong, they didn’t stop to think if they should.I mean, yes, obviously they should, BD Wong is a treasure, but in principle they should have stopped to think about it.
No. You know the old saying: two Wongs do not make a right. (Also, did everyone’s avatars get deleted? Yours is gone.)
They might have to switch to CD Wong soon.
I prefer Vinyl Wong. It’s warmer.
I still have Wong on 8-track.
If I wanted a warmer Wong, I’d listen to him by the crackling fireplace on CD.
BD-ROM
Blu-Wong.
Have you seen him on “Nora From Queens”? Guy’s in the best shape of his life!
I couldn’t believe that was him, I think because it was such a meathead/lovable lug role.
Awesome casting against type!
Right, he was not mentioned in the list of people who wouldn’t return!
Just please give us interesting human characters. Pretty much every character in the original was unique and had a different perspective (thanks to the book). Jurassic World had… Pratt minus any sense of humor. And Dallas Howard who was… brainy? Or uptight? Maybe?
Sense of humor AND that hand thing. Show some respect.
Well Dallas Howard was supposed to be another version of the Hammond character, except she learns her lesson fairly early on. Pratt is another version of the Malcolm character? He respects nature and the natural process, but he’s also engaged in this dinosaur business in a way Malcolm wasn’t.
I think they’re both meant to be throwback to older movie archetypes. The uptight but smart and surprisingly tough woman is out of her element in the wilderness, while the rough-around-the-edges, highly competent man is in his element, but is stymied by his inability to understand the woman’s motivations. It’s pretty much the plot of “the African Queen”
I do love The African Queen. I think there’s some of that except I don’t think he’s unable to understand her motivations. Her motivations are pretty simple and he gets them. He just thinks she’s wrong (viz. the making of the dinosaurs, not the saving of her nephews).
Do a prequel and adapt Raptor Red!
I’d watch a prequel movie (or mini-series) about the lead up to the park, with a more book-faithful Hammond and centered on the staff trying to make it work in the face of Hammond’s impatience, cost-cutting, and the sheer technical challenges. Show Nedry trying to make the impossible automation work and then getting extorted by Hammond for his troubles.
I think this is a good idea, however you’re missing a few key things that would make it absolutely great:- Cast Timothee Chalamet as a young, hot John Hammond
– Make Dennis Nedry svelte and fitness-obsessed when he’s hired at InGen, before stress eating Snickers bars makes him morbidly obese
– Show scenes of the dinosaurs putting on bibs and holding utensils before they dine on their victims
Have Nedry played by a CG Hugh Grant.
Two words: Talking velociraptors:
Yeah, a movie about construction delays and IT-related issues sounds awesome!
I’ve always said the worst thing about Jurassic Park was all the dinosaurs.
Exactly.
No one asked for this. Few want it. Did Koepp blow his egg money already?
Oh please give me a true-to-the-books version where Hammond dies at the end of the first one.
Might sound crazy, but what if instead of an endless series of reboots and spin-offs, they put the original movie on — now hear me out — some kind of “Video Home System” so we could just watch the original movie from the comfort of our own homes?
It’s on Prime, so I guess you’re happy?
I think it could be interesting to remake the original, only hew closer to the original text. And this time, spare no go or make it a hard-R
I realize James Cameron is busy but I’ve always wanted to see what his version would’ve been like, given that Spielberg beat him to the rights by hours.
Better, I’m certain. R-rated or at least very hard PG-13. I’m the outlier who doesn’t think much of Jurassic Park. Homeboy was doing this as a free pass to make Schindler’s List, and I’ve read descriptions of his head space while toggling between them. I always felt JP was a phone-it-in, and that it indulges all of Steven’s worst habits (humiliating fat people, insisting that Hammond be a lovable scamp instead of a megalomaniac just cuz, et al).I’m fun at parties.
Wow you just know he would’ve made a film as visually stunning. JP was such a paradigm shift for the time. It really was an incredible experience seeing it in 1993, and just marveling at how they did all that. I just wish more filmmakers and studios would heed the lessons, that CGI is best when combined with practicals, not in place of. It says so much that VFX made on early 1990s computer tech holdup better than stuff that was made in the last three years.
A Cameron version would have just been kind of a re-tread of Aliens. A large corporation trying to exploit dangerous animals for money.
Giving away my age here, but I distinctly remember the thrill among my friend group discussing that JP was essentially an R-rated movie without the cursing (ie horror and gore). That was one, though not the only, selling point that got us so amped up for the movie.
I was 9 when it came out. My parents took me to see it, which in hindsight is a bit surprising, since they were rather guarded with what I was allowed to see, and the movie was PG-13. Maybe they figured the dinosaurs = kid friendly? I do remember being pretty scared by it at the time, but it was a pretty amazing experience all the same.
Maybe the updated version can acknowledge how may native island species would be driven extinct by the project. Come to think of it, transplanting it to one those artificial islands in Dubai would be perfect and get around the whole “fucking up a pristine island ecosystem” problem.
the whole “fucking up a pristine island ecosystem” problem.It’s not a problem. InGen is really good at it.
It’s the company motto
And watching dinos run berserk and gobble down Russian plutocrat tourists, Saudi oil heirs, and assorted Eurotrash will delight audiences worldwide!
How did they resurrect extinct plants? And why? Given how little people are able to name the plants around them, would the visitors have even noticed or cared that a random green leaf was resurrected? And how could Laura Dern have known that a long-extinct plant was toxic? The screenwriters really oversold the potential of amber. Biologically, it makes zero sense.
These are all good points.
I wonder if there was a speculative rush on amber in the early 90’s because of this.
Koepp has had such a weird career. He continually shits the bed on adaptations and IP, but I’ve enjoyed quite a lot of his own original work.
Which is to say, I have no interest in a new JP from him.
As someone who loves both the original Jurassic Park and its sequel, The Lost World, I’m ecstatic that Koepp is coming back to course correct this franchise. Colin Trevorrow seems like a nice enough guy, but his approach in continuing this series has come across as cynical, incompetent and unintentionally disrespectful of the original films. This isn’t a franchise that benefits from the fantastical MCU-style action/comedy sensibility. While JP3 was a mess in its own right, it also still felt like it existed in the same universe as Spielberg’s films. The Jurassic World trilogy doesn’t feel like it belongs in the same continuity and even when caving in and jumping on the No Way Home wagon with Dominion, none of the legacy cast gelled with the World cast, the legacy cast phoned their performances in, weren’t written consistently with their previous appearances and what should have been the World series coming home to the Park series ended up feeling like a 160-minute Super Bowl commercial. I’d imagine events in the previous films will be mentioned in this new one, maybe a cameo or two will appear, maybe characters like an adult Lex and/or Tim will lead the movie, and I’m fine with another soft reboot. As long as this series takes itself reasonably seriously, fleshes out its characters and has an actually compelling story to tell, I’m here for it. Koepp is quite literally the perfect writer to tackle this IP at this exact moment, and if a director like Gareth Edwards/John Krasinski/James Mangold gets the reins on this thing, it could really be a special cinematic experience. The film starts shooting in May or June at Sky Studio in the UK, so I’m sure a filmmaker is already locked in. I really hope this feels like the true Jurassic Park IV.
While at it can we redo Chrichton’s Timeline to be closer to the book, a better movie and not staring Butler.
And what was wrong with Butler in Timeline?
IMHO he was a bit flat but OK. He would be to old now. The movie was bad and could be great as the book reads like a screenplay.
Quality/subject-wise, Koepp’s screenwriting career is like an extended version of Mark Mylod’s (Ali G to a24 style dark satire) directorial one, or analogous to David Gordon Green. There’s variety and then there’s that…
“Complete reboot” my ass…. It’ll just be even more boring crap about evil corporations genetically modding dinos to be even more vicious…ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. It’ll just be reruns of reruns.Just give us dinosaurs being dinosaurs since they’re so jaw-droppingly impressive without the “evil corporation” baggage. So here’s a thought: adapt the Age of Reptiles comic books.If you’re familiar with these books, you know it’d be the right call.
Ah, the creative bankruptcy of Hollywood continues anew…FFS, man. That is disheartening.
“But hey, everyone will always like seeing dinosaur movies”It’s me. I’m everyone.
How long before they just start releasing remasters to big theater runs like they did with Star Wars in the 90s? Why bother remaking a great movie when you can just shine up a classic and re-promote it?
In my reboot, Gennaro is the badass he and Muldoon were in the book, rather than the chumps the film turned them into
Wow! Just imagine what that giant pile of dinosaur poop will look like with current cutting edge special effect technology!
For Christ’s sake, it’s a 2 movie premise! 1) People go to where the dinosaurs are, people get eaten; 2) Dinosaurs go to where the people are, people get eaten. That’s it! that’s all the combinations! give it a rest already
Incredibly unpopular opinion. The world movies are more fun that the park movies, which take themselves too seriously. It’s an inherently stupid premise. Roll with it.
Do you think that all of Chris Pratt’s movies are better than the very first JP? Yeah, that’s probably an extremely uncommon opinion. Most people mock numbers 2 and 3 to some extent, but few people dislike the first.
I think it’d be neat if they stopped making Jurassic Park movies and also deleted every sequel ever made from memory because they got it right the first time and everything they’ve made since has been bad, but Universal doesn’t care what I think.
At this point I kinda hope they do the horrible-sounding “human-dino commando hybrid” thing just to get it out of their system.