Jurassic World Rebirth Will Bring Back The Best Part Of Jurassic Park 3

Today is officially a big news day for the most annoying person you know. While most other blockbusters tend to take over the spotlight, from galaxies far away to godlike superheroes and everything in between, let us never forget that there exists a passionate and extremely nerdy fanbase obsessed with the coolest movie monsters of them all: dinosaurs. The recently-completed "Jurassic World" trilogy may have put a slight damper on things for us — in case you have chosen to forget, the critically-derided "Dominion" decided to spend an unseemly amount of its runtime on a plague of giant locusts, for some reason — but we're back and ready for more kaiju-sized punishment. The franchise shows no signs of slowing down (a lesser writer than myself would probably have dropped a "going extinct" pun there, and for that you're welcome), and for once that doesn't sound like a threat.

Vanity Fair has the scoop on several jaw-dropping surprises in store for us in the upcoming seventh film in the "Jurassic Park" franchise, titled "Jurassic World Rebirth." In case you're wondering why we're so optimistic about this, the film is helmed by "Godzilla" and "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" director Gareth Edwards and written by David Koepp, who not only penned the first "Mission: Impossible" movie and Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man," but is also a longtime Steven Spielberg collaborator who scripted "Jurassic Park." But this newly-released batch of fresh details concerning the plot have shot our expectations through the roof, and chief among them has to do with the reveal that the sequel will be bringing things all the way back to one of the most divisive series installments.

Yep, the rumors were true. "Rebirth" will officially feature the dreaded Spinosaurus, aka the villain that killed our beloved T-Rex in cold blood early on in "Jurassic Park III."

In the immortal words of Joseph Mazello's Tim Murphy in the original "Jurassic Park," "They're, uh, flocking this way." But instead of referring to a vast herd of (mostly) harmless Gallimimus, this time we're talking about some of the most terrifying sea monsters to ever inhabit planet Earth. "Jurassic World Rebirth" follows a whole new set of characters years after the events of the sequel trilogy, led by Scarlett Johansson's mercenary Zora Bennett, Jonathan Bailey's paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis, and Mahershala Ali as soldier Duncan Kincaid. But while they're fully equipped to handle any threat they might encounter on land, the newest film will apparently throw a whole new curveball in the form of the Spinosaurus — and not just one, but multiple.

When last we saw the carnivore (although, to push up my nerd glasses a bit, paleontologists believe its real-world counterpart mostly fed on a diet of fish) and its distinctive sail-like spines, it had just finished rampaging around the island of Isla Sorna and scaring the living daylights out of anyone it came across in "Jurassic Park III." "Rebirth" appears to take place in a brand-new setting altogether, with Vanity Fair describing it as "an island near the equator that was once home to the first Jurassic Park's research lab." This likely rules out the possibility of a reappearance by the very same Spinosaurus that stalked Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and his fellow castaways, although the article does include two brand-new stills showing a Spinosaurus and a couple of their friends in action.

Previously-announced cast member Philippine Velge (whose character has yet to be revealed) will apparently be in the thick of the chaos (as seen in Vanity Fair's images), having the profoundly bad luck of being in a boat chased by not just a Spinosaurus or three, but also a not-so-friendly Mosasaurus (which previously played a starring role in 2015's "Jurassic World).

The "Jurassic" franchise has certainly never shied away from incorporating elements from previous films, from "The Lost World" shifting focus to Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to "Jurassic World Dominion" bringing back the original trio of "Jurassic Park" stars for one last ride, but "Jurassic World Rebirth" might be making its biggest and boldest step yet in that regard. Just when everyone had forgotten all the B-movie schlock of "Jurassic Park III," this next blockbuster is set to bring back arguably the best part of director Joe Johnston's fairly divisive effort.

/Film's Jeremy Smith has previously gone on record as a staunch defender of "Jurassic Park III," and many of us who were essentially raised on the original three movies might be inclined to agree. But the debate surrounding the misshapen threequel will almost assuredly be reignited once again, particularly in the wake of these "Jurassic World Rebirth" plot details and its trailer. Although the Vanity Fair article is light on details on how the Spinosaurus will factor into the main storyline (our guess is that this will be limited to one or two action sequences), the mere presence of the villain that infamously snapped the neck of everybody's favorite dinosaur will inevitably raise eyebrows. In "Jurassic World," director Colin Trevorrow included a cheeky Easter egg that, in his mind, set things right. Towards the climax of the film, the T-Rex (yes, the same one from the original "Jurassic Park") smashes through a display skeleton of a Spinosaurus in an easy-to-miss inside joke for those who disliked "Jurassic Park III." This time around, though, we're cautiously optimistic that Gareth Edwards and David Koepp have slightly more love for the spine-backed reptile.

"Jurassic World Rebirth" will claw its way into theaters shockingly soon on July 2, 2025.