The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Jurassic World Rebirth director Gareth Edwards has exited the sequel due to "creative differences" with Universal Pictures.
While Rebirth was released to mixed reviews last year—it has 50% on Rotten Tomatoes—the movie was a hit at the box office with $869 million. It also attracted an A-list cast, including Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey.
Writer David Koepp was once again enlisted to pen the script for this follow-up, with the three leads all expected to return (that's still the case, though their respective schedules are "still being worked out").
Plot details for the Jurassic World Rebirth sequel are being kept under wraps, and there's no word on what these "creative differences" entailed. Still, this isn't a first for the franchise, as Edwards originally replaced David Leitch, who walked away from Rebirth after butting heads with Universal.
In a brief statement, the studio said, "We had an incredible experience working with Gareth on Jurassic World Rebirth." What comes next for Edwards isn't clear, though he has previously been linked to both Marvel and DC.
Interestingly, the filmmaker alluded to Universal's creative interference while promoting Jurassic World Rebirth. Originally, the plan had been for Ali's character to make a heroic sacrifice. That all changed when the studio stepped in and pushed for a new ending.
"It flipped back and forth a couple of times. In the draft I first read, he died, and I thought, 'That’s great!' We started to pursue Mahershala, and for whatever reason, it felt like, well, if we’re going to get Mahershala, we’ve got to keep him alive, right? But then Mahershala read it, and his only main note was, 'Can we kill him?' I agreed, so I joined Team Mahershala and we both pushed to have him killed; the script changed back to him dying."
"Whilst we were shooting, the studio said, 'Look, we haven’t got time to do a pickup shoot or any reshoots. Just to be safe, get some material, just in case we need him to live.' In my mind, I know how this works; whatever we film will be in the movie, so you’ve got to be careful. I thought, 'If we can do this, I want it to be the really classy version that I can live with,' so I started trying to imagine it and to picture some shots. The actors gave this amazing performance for this little section, and I really liked it.
"But, when we edited the movie and did the director’s cut, I ended up sending the version that had him dying. It went well, but the studio said, 'Oh, it’s great. But can we just see the version where he lives?' We hadn’t put it together, so we went back and edited that, and everyone just said, 'It’s got to be that.' We did two test screenings, and the reaction to him living, everyone was a lot happier."
The Jurassic World Rebirth sequel will be the franchise's eighth instalment, and the plan right now is for it to begin shooting next year. There's currently no word on who will replace Edwards, but it seems the movie is targeting a 2028/2029 release.