Forget Jurassic World Rebirth 2, the Best Upcoming Dinosaur Movie Already Looks Like a Cult Masterpiece

Although Jurassic World Rebirth 2 might be a lot more high profile, the best upcoming dinosaur movie is a much zanier and more unexpected genre blend from an indie director. The Jurassic Park series might have many movies, but only a handful of them have truly impressed critics and fans alike. Steven Spielberg’s original adaptation of Michael Crichton’s sci-fi horror novel is an undisputed classic, but its original sequels, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III, are more divisive. Similarly, 2015’s reboot Jurassic World was well received, but its sequels Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World: Dominion failed to impress.

Thus, although 2026’s franchise reboot Jurassic World Rebirth was a return to form, it is also fair to say that other filmmakers are overdue a crack at the genre. A surprisingly large number of dinosaur-centric movies have bombed at the box office in the years since Jurassic Park’s release, from 1995’s Theodore Rex to 2009’s Land of the Lost remake to 2023’s Adam Driver vehicle 65. However, 2025’s low-budget dinosaur war movie Primitive War became an instant cult classic, and its upcoming follow-up Dinosaurs of the Wild West looks like an even more audacious genre blender.

Dinosaurs of the Wild West Is An Ingenious Blend of Dinosaur Action and Western Tropes

Starring True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten and Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer, 2025’s Primitive War is a Vietnam war movie with a difference. After introducing its central characters, a reconnaissance unit sent into a Vietnamese jungle valley to rescue their fellow soldiers, Primitive War plunges these heroes into chaos with the revelation that they are surrounded by de-extinct dinosaurs. Based on the novel of the same name by author Ethan Pettus, Primitive War was praised as a fun, cheesy genre blender upon its release.

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If mixing the conventions of the war movie genre with dinosaur action sounds too tonally uneven for some readers, the movie’s even goofier planned follow-up may be a better fit. Director Luke Sparke’s Kickstarter campaign for Dinosaurs of the Wild West, set to launch on July 6, introduces a world in which humans and dinosaurs have lived together for years. A mix of Western tropes and dinosaur action, Dinosaurs of the Wild West is set to be a high-concept thrill ride whose teaser has to be seen to be believed.

Dinosaurs of the Wild West’s Audacious Genre Blend Is Tough To Pull Off

While Sparke has undeniably succeeded in his attempt to, per the movie’s Kickstarter campaign, “create something the world has never seen” and “something that feels completely fresh,” there are a few precedents for Dinosaurs of the Wild West. Admittedly, 1969’s underrated Ray Harryhausen showcase The Valley of Gwangi is likely the only other movie that directly pitted cowboys against dinosaurs. Still, there have been many other ambitious sci-fi Westerns over the decades.

However, this isn’t necessarily heartening news for Sparke’s planned movie. After all, from 1999’s Wild Wild West and 2011’s Cowboys Vs Aliens to 1997’s The Postman, almost all of these ambitious genre-blenders have been financial failures. That said, the fact that this planned indie will have a far lower budget than even the least expensive Jurassic Park movie bodes well for Dinosaurs of the Wild West.