Scarlett Johansson Confirms Jurassic World Casting, Teases David Koepp's "Incredible" Script (Exclusive)
Johansson next stars in Fly Me to the Moon, which hits theaters on July 12th.
The prehistoric era is returning to the big screen. Back in the early the 2010s, Universal Pictures began working on a soft reboot of Jurassic Park, rebranding the Steven Spielberg-directed franchise as Jurassic World but continuing the canon of the originals. Led by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, Jurassic World (2015) realized John Hammond's initial creation, launching a commercial dinosaur-populated theme park open to the public. Jurassic World crushed at the box office, breaking The Avengers (2012)'s then-record for domestic opening weekend box office and going on to haul $1.6 billion at the worldwide box office. It currently sits as the eighth highest grossing film of all time.
Jurassic World's success was enough to spawn a new trilogy. Subsequent installments Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Jurassic World: Dominion (2022) both hit that ever-elusive billion dollar mark, but each dropped by over $300 million to its respective predecessor. Critic scores also dipped, hitting as low as 29 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Two years removed from the Jurassic World trilogy wrapping up, Universal Pictures looks to rekindle that fossil fascination.
Scarlett Johansson Confirms Casting in Jurassic World 4
The land before time has landed some modern-day star power.
Speaking to ComicBook at the Fly Me to the Moon press junket, Scarlett Johansson confirmed her casting in the next Jurassic installment.
"Everything," Johansson, who last led a blockbuster franchise during her Marvel Cinematic Universe tenure, responded when asked what about the new Jurassic project made her want to return to franchise films. "I'm an enormous Jurassic Park fan. It's one of the first films I remember seeing in the theater. I remember seeing it so vividly. It was like life-changing. It was mind-blowing. I cannot express how excited I am."
This untitled sequel, tentatively known as Jurassic World 4, is penned by David Koepp, the writer of the original Jurassic Park (1993) screenplay. Jurassic World 4 represents Koepp's first time working in the franchise since 1997's The Lost World: Jurassic Park. This will be his first Jurassic script not directed by Steven Spielberg as Gareth Edwards (Godzilla, The Creator) will helm the project.
"The script is so incredible," Johansson continued. "David Koepp wrote it. He returned after like 30 years to write the script. He's so passionate about it, which is so awesome."
Johansson joining Jurassic World is a long time coming, as she revealed she had been pushing to work within the franchise since it returned to theaters in the 2010s.
"I'm such an enormous fan of the franchise and huge nerd for it. I'm just like, I can't even, I'm pinching myself," Johansson added. "I've been trying to get into this franchise in any possible way for over 10 years. I'm like, 'I'll die in the first five minutes! I can get eaten by whatever! I'll do the craft service!' I'll do anything for it. The fact that it's happened in this way at this time just is actually unbelievable. I can't believe it."
Jurassic World 4 is currently undergoing principal photography in Thailand. Johansson can next be seen in Fly Me to the Moon, which hits theaters on July 12th.
