What Will Jurassic World 4 Be About?

News broke on Monday that Universal is continuing the Jurassic World franchise, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given how well the dinosaur adventures still do at the box office. All three Jurassic World movies made over a billion dollars at the box office, of course there are going to be more of them. That said, it appears as though Universal is looking to start fresh with a new take on the Jurassic property, which obviously leaves us with a lot of questions.

This next Jurassic World will be bringing David Koepp on as a screenwriter. If you’re not familiar, Koepp wrote Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park for Steven Spielberg. Original Jurassic Park producer Frank Marshall is also back in the same role. According to The Hollywood Reporter, who first broke the news of this new Jurassic World project, the film is said to be launching a “new Jurassic era” for the franchise. That would mean all-new characters in an all-new story.

So the story of Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady and Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire Dearing seems to be over. It also appears original Jurassic Park stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum are not returning for this next film. So where does that leave things? Let’s explore the two main options…

A Jurassic Reboot?

This will be looked at as something of a reboot, given that Jurassic World is ditching the previous casts and starting with a fresh story, but don’t expect a restart of the entire franchise.

Even though Koepp is writing the screenplay, it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to rehash anything that happened in Jurassic Park, creating an entirely new timeline of events for future films. Jurassic Park is loved by all and is a great launching point for whatever they want to do. There’s no reason the new movie couldn’t turn back the clock and explore another period of time on Isla Nublar between Jurassic Park and Jurassic World. That could potentially be a great way to introduce new characters to the fray and not mess with either of the existing franchise arcs. 

A full-on reboot, though? There’s not really a logical reason to go that route.

Finding Space in a Jurassic World

The Jurassic World arc is a wild one, destroying an entire island and sending dinosaurs all across the earth. The scope is so big that there is room for more stories to be told without interfering in what’s already been done. It’s just a matter of finding the right place in that timeline to tell a new tale. It feels like maybe that’s the challenge David Koepp was given.

The Jurassic World name carries a lot of weight, so this film could just completely disconnect from everything we know from the previous movies and completely stand on its own. The Jurassic franchise has always been steeped in nostalgia, though, so there’s bound to at least be a connection or two that grab the attention of fans. 

Kayla Watts, the pilot in Jurassic World: Dominion played by DeWanda Wise, is perhaps the richest character introduced in all three Jurassic World films. She could naturally carry the story of Dominion into whatever happens next while also standing out as a new character. The pilot bit is an added bonus, offering opportunities for some awesome set pieces.

There are plenty of other supporting characters from throughout the Jurassic franchise that could give Koepp a way to launch a new saga. Perhaps he was brought in because the idea of focusing on a grown-up Tim and Lex was floated by the studio. There’s also Kelly Curtis, Ian Malcolm’s daughter from The Lost World, who could be taken in any number of new directions. Using the kids from the original films as a way to establish a new generation is a tried and true method, but it also distances Jurassic World from Owen and Claire. It’s a win-win, if that’s what they choose to do.

That said, Koepp is an exceptional screenwriter and, as we’ve seen over the years, he’s more than capable of creating rich characters of his own. Regardless of what the film ends up being about, the fact that he has returned to write it should be more than a little exciting for anyone who loves Jurassic Park.

What would you like to see from the new Jurassic World movie? Let us know in the comments!