Jurassic World Rebirth released digitally amid origins debate

Jurassic World Rebirth, the 2025 installment in the long-running dinosaur franchise, is now available to rent or buy digitally, bringing renewed debate over how much the series should honor its origins. The film was scripted by David Koepp, who co-wrote the original Jurassic Park, with Steven Spielberg serving as an executive producer and Gareth Edwards directing. Rebirth was marketed as a standalone story but contains deliberately calibrated references to the earlier films, and was filmed primarily in Thailand rather than the Hawaiian locations associated with the original trilogy.

Edwards said he treated Koepp's screenplay as a "playground" and initially loaded the picture with homages to Spielbergian filmmaking, only to be asked by Spielberg and Koepp to pare them back. "I showed the first cut to Steven and David and I got a little telling off for too many easter eggs and homages," Edwards said. After a test screening in which audiences asked for "more love" for the original, he said he was allowed to reintroduce a handful of references. "I think we ended up with the right balance," he added.

The digital release includes a bonus feature called "Hunting for Easter Eggs" that...