“Jurassic World Rebirth” was first announced in January of 2024, the news came as a bit of a shock. Setting aside Universal’s ambitious plan to get the movie from David Koepp’s script to cinemas in just a little over a year’s time (a feat which they impressively accomplished, putting to shame the conventional wisdom of blockbuster filmmaking), the announcement came just under two years after the release of the prior entry in the series, 2022’s “Jurassic World Dominion.” That movie was not just the end of the initial trilogy begun by 2015’s “Jurassic World,” but purported to be the grand finale to both the “Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic World” films, operating in a similar fashion to 2019’s “Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker.” The title “Rebirth” seemed to indicate that this new film may be a soft reboot of the entire franchise, leading fans to speculate on when and where the movie might be taking place. As the director’s chair was filled by Gareth Edwards and actors like Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali began to be cast, it indeed looked like “Rebirth” would be carving its own slice out of this world rather than bringing back any plotlines or characters from the previous films.
Yet now that the movie is in theaters, it’s been revealed that “Rebirth” does not take place in any sort of rebooted or alternate continuity. Sure, the movie takes place in a new location: a previously unseen island named Ile Saint-Hubert, where the company InGen conducted some genetic dinosaur hybridization experiments. And no legacy characters make any sort of appearance in the film — not Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), or Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), or even Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong). Yet despite this distancing itself from the previous films, the movie makes sure to indicate that it is part of the continuity of the series, making it not a reboot but a brand new adventure within the world of the franchise. To this end, there’s a moment where an original franchise character’s name is dropped, making a direct connection between “Rebirth” and the original films, as well as opening the door for some potential crossover in the future.
