Anybody hear that? It's an impact tremor from an incoming blockbuster, and that film is Jurassic World Rebirth. The incoming dinosaur epic is helmed by Rogue One and The Creator director Gareth Edwards, plunging us into a prehistoric rollercoaster ride where human beings are very much at the bottom of the food chain.
The movie follows on from the original Jurassic Park trilogy (1993-2001) and the spin-off Jurassic World series (2015-2022). The franchise was kicked off to awe-inspiring effect by director Steven Spielberg and given Edwards' facility with large-scale effects, we can surely expect something spectacular.
The first trailer has bellowed its way online so check it out below and then keep scrolling for our breakdown of the highlights.
This shot of the banner is an awesome throwback to Jurassic Park
Remember, the awesome, John Williams-scored crescendo to Jurassic Park as the T-Rex let out her mighty roar? Tell us that this simple shot doesn't implicitly reference that iconic cinematic moment.
It's the Marvel/Wicked crossover we never thought we needed
Scarlett Johansson swaps out her Marvel role as Black Widow for the equally tenacious and resourceful Zora. She's paired with Wicked breakout Jonathan Bailey as Dr. Henry Loomis (it's official: the 'Micked' trend starts right here), and Green Book/Moonlight Oscar-winner Maherhala Ali as Duncan Kincaid.
These disparate individuals are brought together by Rupert Friend's undoubtedly shady entrepreneur (this is Jurassic Park/World, after all) to investigate the original Jurassic Park's cloning facility. Before one can say The Land That Time Forgot, there's running and screaming.
There's more than a hint of The Lost World in the storyline
You might be thinking that the above storyline owes a debt to The Lost World, Steven Spielberg's sequel to his groundbreaking (and rumbling) Jurassic Park. You'd be right: in that film, Jurassic Park survivor Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) is sent to Isla Sorna, aka Site B, with a small team to investigate how the dinosaurs have naturally adapted to the Jurassic Park test site.
The dilophosaurus is back
Those frills still give us the chills. Who remembers running from the room as a child when Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) was killed by the venom-spitting dilophosaurus in Jurassic Park? The memorable dinosaur re-appeared en masse in 2022's Jurassic World Dominion, a nostalgic doffing of the cap to conclude the Jurassic World spin-off trilogy.
The mosasaurus ensures continuity with Jurassic World
The enormous, toothy mososaurus made a big impression in Jurassic World (2015), especially at the end when it leaped from the water to finish off the hybrid monster the Indominus Rex. Jurassic World Rebirth escalates things by not having just one mososaurus but several of them, as they surround the boat our heroes are housed on.
The T-Rex river chase from the Jurassic Park novel will feature prominently
This quick shot of the fearsome T-Rex plunging its head underwater seems to be a reference to the river chase sequence from Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park novel. Steven Spielberg wanted to include it in Jurassic Park but technological limitations prevented him from doing so. Fingers crossed we finally get to see the set-piece play out in all its nail-biting glory.
Jurassic World Rebirth is released on July 2nd. If that seems too far away, check out our list of action movies arriving very soon.
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