Billboard Women in Music 2025
Some things are better left extinct.
That’s what Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey are about to discover in “Jurassic World Rebirth.” A new trailer for the franchise reboot debuted at CinemaCon on Wednesday as part of Universal’s presentation to theater owners and it offered the kind of dino carnage that has made the series a multi-billion-dollar sensation.
There’s a dramatic attempt to steal the eggs of a quetzalcoatlus that ends in a high-flying race to escape. Throw in a mosasaur attack that nearly capsizes the boat of a group of researchers and their armed guides. Add in some kind of mutated dinosaur that basically looks like a fire-breathing T-Rex. Oh, and for the less bloodthirsty viewers, there’s also the appearance of a cuddly baby triceratops. Only the creature starts freaking out because — you guessed it — a much more menacing primordial beast needs a snack and only our fearless heroes will hit the spot.
Johansson said she was a huge fan of the series during Universal’s presentation. “It has been a life long dream to be in a ‘Jurassic’ movie. … For the last 15 years I’d reach out and say I’m available here,” she said shortly before introducing the new trailer.
“She’s too expensive,” Gareth Edwards, the director, quipped.
So this time, Johansson didn’t leave anything to chance, reaching out directly to Steven Spielberg, the director of the first film and the godfather of the franchise.
“I told him I’d play any role even if I’m eaten in the first five minutes,” Johansson said.
“Spoiler alert,” Edwards interjected.
Set five years after the events of 2022’s “Jurassic World Dominion,” the film finds dinosaurs struggling to stay alive due to environmental changes. A handful of creatures can still be found on an island that was once the site of the original research facility for Jurassic Park. “Only the worst ones are here,” a character intones in the trailer.
Despite the high probability of getting ripped apart by velociraptors, that’s where a team of scientists embark on a top secret mission to try to extract DNA from the dinosaurs that can be used to make a life-saving drug. Or something like that, because moviegoers don’t go to these movies for the science of things. They want to see a T-Rex make a meal of a lot of humans.
Edwards, no stranger to franchise fare from his work on “Godzilla” and “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” directs from a script by David Koepp, the writer of 1993’s “Jurassic Park,” the film that kicked things off, as well as its 1997 sequel, “The Lost World.” The ensemble also includes Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, David Iacono, and Ed Skrein.
“Jurassic World Rebirth” will open on July 2, 2025. Universal also used its time at CinemaCon to premiere footage and trailers from “Wicked: For Good,” “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” and “M3GAN 2.0.”
