'Jurassic World Rebirth' Interview: Director Gareth Edwards

Moviefone speaks with Gareth Edwards about 'Jurassic World Rebirth's digital release. "I didn't expect I was going to be in a room with Steven Spielberg."

'Jurassic World Rebirth' director Gareth Edwards.

Available on digital beginning August 5th, before arriving on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD on September 9th is the box office hit ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’, which is the seventh movie in the series and begins a whole new chapter for the beloved franchise.

Directed by Gareth Edwards (‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ and ‘The Creator’), the film stars Scarlett Johansson (‘Black Widow’), Jonathan Bailey (‘Wicked’), Rupert Friend (‘Asteroid City’), Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (‘The Lincoln Lawyer’), and two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (‘Moonlight’ and 'Green Book').

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director Gareth Edwards from Thailand about the 'Jurassic World Rebirth's digital and home entertainment release. Edwards discussed his love for the original movie, taking the franchise in a new direction, the alternate opening, the deleted scenes and why they were cut, and designing the look of the dinosaurs and other creatures for the film.

Related Article: Director Gareth Edwards Talks 'The Creator' and Artificial Intelligence

Director Gareth Edwards on the set of 'Jurassic World Rebirth', directed by Gareth Edwards. Photo: Universal Pictures.

Moviefone: To begin with, were you a fan of the ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Jurassic World’ movies before making this film, and what does it mean to you personally to be leading this new chapter of the franchise?

Gareth Edwards: I think on the fan front, so basically New Year's Eve 2024, which is when I was offered the gig, my girlfriend was like, "What do you want to do?" I said, "I don't really want to go out. Let's just go down the road. We live near Universal Studios." I was like, "Let's just go on the 'Jurassic World' ride, and that's how we'll celebrate New Year's Eve." So, I took a picture of myself and I’m friends with Colin Trevorrow who did the ‘Jurassic World’ movies, and I sent it to them as sort of an embarrassing, like this is how rock and roll I am, that we're going on a ‘Jurassic World’ theme park ride for our New Year's Eve. But I didn't expect in my wildest dreams that two months later, I was going to be in a room with Steven Spielberg pitching him my take on that screenplay. So, it's been a surreal, crazy journey, to be honest with you.

Director Gareth Edwards on the set of 'Jurassic World Rebirth', directed by Gareth Edwards. Photo: Universal Pictures.

MF: I understand there will be an alternate opening as well as deleted scenes available with the digital release. Can you talk about what the alternate opening is, as well as the deleted scenes and why they didn’t make the final theatrical cut?

GE: So, there's an alternative opening. ‘Jurassic Park’ basically has a lot of strong themes within it, and one of them is man versus nature, obviously. So, I started the movie with basically the rainforest getting destroyed a little bit, by these giant machines were building this lab where the movie opens. It just took a little too long visually to get there in time. So, as we were just trying to tighten the movie, it was just one of the things that came out. But I always missed it not being in the film. So, it doesn't have all finished VFX, but you really see all the temporary previs of that. Then there's two deleted scenes, one that people might recognize who saw the trailer, which is a velociraptor scene that got removed. The reason for that was because if you imagined it in the actual film, it was like a double beat moment where you have this reveal of raptors in the beginning of the third act in the film at night, and then suddenly the Mutadons appear, and it just felt like a hat on a hat a little bit. So, we're going to be putting that on the digital extras. Then also my favorite scene that got cut out that I was just sad about and wanted it to be in the movie, but it basically just stopped the momentum at one point. But it's a scene, without getting into too much information, it's basically when Scarlett sees a payphone and tries to make a call and it all goes a bit wrong from there.

(L to R) Luna Blaise and the T-Rex in 'Jurassic World Rebirth', directed by Gareth Edwards. Photo: Universal Pictures.

MF: Finally, can you talk about designing the look of the dinosaurs and the new mutated creatures?

GE: Well, when I started the film, I walked into this empty office and they go, "Okay, your first meeting is in a few days with Mattel, the toy company." I was like, "Okay, why?" They said, "Well, they want to see all the designs for the dinosaurs. They need a year to build the factories to make the toys." I’m like, "We don't have any designs." So basically, I put out this bat signal to all my favorite concept artists that I'd worked with that could do creature designs. We did this massive Zoom session where I just said everything I could possibly think of. Dozens and dozens of the top people in the world just went away that night and within about two or three days we had about 300 designs and it was fast to nail the look of the dinosaurs. The only problem ones were the mutant dinosaurs because obviously the canvas is so large. There was one called the D-Rex, which was really, I felt like I could see it in my peripheral vision if there was a crime and you were trying to explain it to the police. I felt like I got a good look at that one. The one I didn't quite see was the Mutadon, which is the smaller, more raptor-like mutant dinosaur. There are no toys of those for a reason because we took nine months to figure that one out. So sorry, kids, maybe at Christmas, if you pester your mom and Mattel, you might get one.

What’s the story of ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’?

Five years after the events of ‘Jurassic World Dominion’, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air within that tropical biosphere hold, in their DNA, the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.

Scarlett Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure the genetic material. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on a forbidden island that had once housed an undisclosed research facility for Jurassic Park. There, in a terrain populated by dinosaurs of vastly different species, they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that has been hidden from the world for decades.

Who is in the cast of ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’?

Scarlett Johansson as Zora Bennett
Jonathan Bailey as Dr. Henry Loomis
Rupert Friend as Martin Krebs
Mahershala Ali as Duncan Kincaid
Ed Skrein as Atwater
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Reuben Delgado
Luna Blaise as Teresa Delgado
David Iacono as Xavier Dobbs

'Jurassic World Rebirth' will be available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray™ and DVD September 9, 2025.

EXCLUSIVE BONUS FEATURES AVAILABLE WHEN YOU BUY AT PARTICIPATING DIGITAL RETAILERS:

ALTERNATE OPENING
DELETED SCENES:

MUTADON ATTACK – Featuring Scarlett Johansson, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, David Iacono, Rupert Friend, Luna Blaise and Audrina Miranda.

RAPTORS - Featuring Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, David Iacono, Luna Blaise and Audrina Miranda.

JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH: HATCHING A NEW ERA DOCUMENTARY

THE WORLD EVOLVES - Journey into a reimagined Jurassic World with
Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali and the rest of the cast
and filmmakers.

OFF THE DEEP END - Dive into the thrilling ocean sequence and learn about the challenges of shooting on open water, the one-of-a-kind gimbal used to toss around the Essex and Mariposa, and the VFX wizardry that brought the Mosasaurus and Spinosaurs to life.

TREKKING THROUGH THAILAND - Follow the cast and crewʼs footsteps as they navigate the challenges of shooting in exotic jungles, beaches, and tall grass fields that become home to the Titanosaurs.

REX IN THE RAPIDS - Brace for a TRex encounter thatʼs different than anything experienced before with a nail-biting river chase recreated from Michael Crichtonʼs original Jurassic Park novel.

DONʼT LOOK DOWN - Soar into the Quetzalcoatlus sequence with Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Bechir Sylvain as they train for and shoot their cliff rappelling scenes.

MINI-MART MAYHEM - Go inside the heart-stopping third act of Jurassic World Rebirth and witness the process of crafting sets that allow the movieʼs mutant dinosaurs to step out of nightmare-inspired designs and stop on an exhilarating rampage. Featuring Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Audrina Miranda, David Iacono, Luna Blaise, Rupert Friend and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo.

GAG REEL
MEET DOLORES - Meet the animatronic Aquilops with an extraordinarily lifelike personality.
MUNCHED: BECOMING DINO FOOD - Get a victim’s firsthand view inside the frightening jaws of deadly dinosaurs that munch, chomp, and chew their way into creating unforgettable death sequences.
A DAY AT SKYWALKER SOUND – Actress Audrina Miranda guides a personal tour of Skywalker Sound in California to meet the audio editors, foley artists, and mixers who design the movie’s wide array of sounds.
HUNTING FOR EASTER EGGS - Find out where to look for cleverly hidden Easter eggs that pay homage to everything from the first Jurassic Park film to other Steven Spielberg classics.
FEATURE COMMENTARY with Director Gareth Edwards, Production Designer James Clyne, and First Assistant Director Jack Ravenscroft.
FEATURE COMMENTARY with Director Gareth Edwards, Editor Jabez Olssen, and Visual Effects Supervisior David Vickery.