While Jurassic World 4 might struggle to get the franchise back on track, the return of one franchise veteran is great news for the Jurassic Park reboot. It is hard to pinpoint when exactly the franchise fell apart, but 2001’s Jurassic Park III certainly represented a major critical and commercial step down from the first two movies. Jurassic Park earned over $1 billion at the box office, while The Lost World: Jurassic Park followed up with a respectable $618 million four years later. In contrast, the underwhelming Jurassic Park III earned only $365 million in 2001 (via The Numbers).
Although the franchise’s commercial prospects improved with the Jurassic World trilogy, the critical fortunes of the series continued to waver. Jurassic World Dominion ended the reboot trilogy and made a killing at the box office but earned a paltry 29% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Its predecessor, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, gained a marginally more impressive 46%, which still couldn’t match Jurassic Park III‘s 49% rating. In contrast, the original movie and The Lost World: Jurassic Park boasted 91% and 54%, respectively. As such, the return of one franchise veteran in an upcoming sequel is promising news for the series.
Jurassic World 4 is currently scheduled to release July 2, 2025.
David Koepp Writing Jurassic World 4 Can Help The Franchise Recapture Its Magic
David Koepp, the screenwriter who wrote the first two Jurassic Park movies, is currently working on Jurassic World 4. Koepp knows the franchise very well and should be able to get the series back to where it all began, with Jurassic World 4‘s new era representing an overdue fresh start for the franchise. While The Lost World: Jurassic Park wasn’t as successful as the original movie, it did fare better with viewers than its follow-up. Jurassic Park III’s Rotten Tomatoes audience rating is a mere 37%, a far cry from The Lost World: Jurassic Park’s stronger 51% rating.
Koepp’s two original movies set the stage for the rest of the franchise, but none of the subsequent sequels could recapture the adventure movie tone of these early outings. The Lost World: Jurassic Park wasn’t perfect, but its killer opening sequence and wild ending chase through San Francisco were as fun as anything in the original movie. In contrast, the muddled Jurassic Park III and the interminably convoluted Jurassic World sequels were a mess. Koepp’s new Jurassic World 4 can also drop the characters from the original movie, something none of the earlier sequels managed after Koepp’s exit.
Jurassic World 4 Needs To Avoid David Koepp’s Sequel Problems
While The Lost World: Jurassic Park is a lot of fun, it wasn’t all that well-received. Not only that, but Koepp’s screenwriting credits notably also include the two least well-received Indiana Jones sequels, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and The Dial of Destiny. As such, Jurassic World 4 needs to avoid Koepp’s sequel shortcomings. Unlike The Lost World: Jurassic Park and those Indiana Jones outings, Jurassic World 4 can’t prioritize showy set pieces over subtle character work. Like the original Jurassic Park, Jurassic World 4 must focus on its human characters first and the blockbuster’s impressive action sequences second.
