Big lizard aficionado Gareth Edwards to direct Jurassic World sequel

Returning to his roots, e.g., directing movies where a big lizard stomps around smushing humans and cars and stuff, Gareth Edwards will direct the next installment in the beloved, oft-quoted, and well-remembered Jurassic World series. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Universal and Amblin are looking to get this thing out the door and forgotten about by July 2, 2025, so presumably, someone had the bright idea to bring in Godzilla guy and took an early lunch.

Previously, it was reported that David Leitch, co-director of the original John Wick and the director of the upcoming Ryan Gosling movie The Fall Guy, was in talks for the role of Park custodian. It’s really just a matter of leaving a goat out for the T-Rex and making sure everyone leaves a Jurassic World movie disappointed but legally obligated to see whatever sequel Universal dumps on us next. But Edwards is an inspired choice for the role. For one thing, he knows big lizards (or [sigh] birds if you want to get annoying about it), as evidenced by his definitely pretty interesting Godzilla movie from 2014 and his debut feature, Monsters. Another thing, this guy is really good at scale. His science fiction epics, Rogue One and The Creator, generally leave audiences thinking, “Wow, that was a big-ass spaceship,” and they wouldn’t be wrong for thinking that. If there was ever a director who could give Dr. Alan Grant Spielberg Face, it’s Garreth Edwards.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Leitch ended up walking away from talks because he would have minimal creative input because the film was being fast-tracked. That’s no problem for Edwards, who presumably knows a thing or two about bringing a complicated and imploding project over the finish line. Or, at the very least, is a collaborative player when production goes south. Nevertheless, Edwards is a solid, if exciting, pick in the difficult field of Jurassic Park sequels. We suppose it’s true what they say: life finds a way.