Steven Spielberg made two Jurassic Park films. Colin Trevorrow made two Jurassic Park films. And now, a third director could be joining that incredibly exclusive club. J.A. Bayona, director of 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, is reportedly at the top of Universal’s wishlist to direct the sequel to Jurassic World Rebirth.
Gareth Edwards was expected to return for the sequel to his 2025 hit, but left the project earlier this year due to creative differences. That left a highly desirable director opening and, according to TheInSneider, Universal executives think Bayona is the man for the job. Plus, it certainly helps that the team behind the Jurassic series, such as producers Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall, have already seen Bayona take the franchise in a unique, successful direction.
“When you do a film like this you put yourself at the service of the story,” Bayona told io9 back in 2018. “You put yourself at the service of the legacy of the movies they did before. So it’s not that I tried to hijack the Jurassic universe and change the mood and not be faithful of what’s expected. You put your craft at the service of the world that has been established already by other directors.”
At that time, Bayona was directing the second film in a trilogy, which the Jurassic World Rebirth sequel could, potentially, be as well. Here’s what he had to say about doing a middle Jurassic chapter back in 2018.
“When you think about a trilogy, the second episode is when things get more complicated and it’s very exciting as a director,” he said. “You pick up the repercussions of the first movie and you plant the seeds for the third one… You don’t need to deal with the mess you are creating with this story.”
That to me sounds like a man who would very, very much like to be that Jurassic middle chapter yet again.
Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali are all expected to come back for the sequel, which grossed about $340 million domestically and $869 million globally. Those are solid numbers, but not quite Jurassic-sized numbers, and you have to think Universal wants to get back to that. Is Bayona the right person? Time will tell.
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