Universal hits creative roadblock for Jurassic World sequel

The development of a sequel to the 2025 film "Jurassic World Rebirth" is facing significant creative challenges, according to screenwriter David Koepp. While Universal Pictures is reportedly in the early stages of developing a follow-up, Koepp stated that the core narrative problem of how to logically expand the franchise has not yet been solved.

"Jurassic World Rebirth," the seventh film in the overall franchise, served as a soft reboot, introducing a new cast led by Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey under the direction of Gareth Edwards. The film was a commercial success, grossing over $869 million worldwide and earning an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects. Its plot narrowed the series' scope by establishing that, five years after the events of "Jurassic World Dominion," Earth's climate had become inhospitable to dinosaurs outside of equatorial exclusion zones. The story followed a pharmaceutical extraction mission on a remote island.

Koepp, who returned to the franchise after 28 years to write "Rebirth," explained that the creative team deliberately restricted the dinosaurs to one location to make them feel special again after the global scale of...