Gareth Edwards On Teaming With Spielberg For Jurassic World Rebirth

When Steven Spielberg is in blockbuster mode, you’re always in for an adventure – whether on the high seas in Jaws, exploring archaic tombs with Indiana Jones, or hitting the deadly dino climes of Isla Nublar in Jurassic Park. And so when Gareth Edwards – who’s long displayed moments of Spielbergian flair in the likes of Rogue One, Godzilla, and The Creator – got the call to make a Jurassic movie, from the man himself, he too was set for a filmmaking adventure of his own. The resulting Jurassic World Rebirth is a film that not only kicks off a fresh era of cinema’s greatest dino franchise, while throwing it back to the ’93 original; it’s also shot through with DNA from Spielberg’s other classics.

As seen in Rebirth’s trailer, one major set piece sees our characters attacked on water from a Mosasaur, as well as several marauding Spinosauruses. “You can’t put a fin in the water and have it be a threat to people on a boat without thinking of a particular film,” Edwards tells Empire, referring – of course – to the legendary Jaws. “And I would feel really guilty about this, except for the fact that the screenplay was given to me by Steven Spielberg.” Elsewhere, a temple-set sequence has more than a hint of Raiders about it. “I had to resist the urge to put in booby traps,” says Rebirth writer David Koepp – who not only penned the original Jurassic Park and The Lost World, but also teamed with Spielberg on Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.

For Edwards, getting to work alongside Spielberg – who once again acts as producer on Rebirth, stewarding the overall Jurassic saga – meant he was rubbing shoulders with one of the all-time greats for the second time in his career. “The only thing I can compare it to is having to show George Lucas around the set of a Star Wars film,” he says. “I definitely believe I am in the Matrix and I chose ‘film director’ as my simulation, because this shouldn’t really happen!” He’s living the dream; hopefully, Rebirth gives us all nightmares like it’s 1993.

Read Empire’s full Jurassic World Rebirth cover story – going on set with director Gareth Edwards and stars Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali and Rupert Friend – in the Summer 2025 issue, on sale Thursday 8 May. Pre-order a copy online here. Jurassic World Rebirth hits UK cinemas on 2 July.