Oscar-nominated director Gareth Edwards has revealed an unexpected influence behind his highly anticipated film, *Jurassic World: Rebirth*. In a surprising twist, Edwards cites the 2005 historical epic *Kingdom of Heaven*, directed by the renowned Sir Ridley Scott, as a major inspiration behind the visual style and tone of the next chapter in the Jurassic saga.
During a recent interview with *SFX Magazine* ahead of the July 2025 release, the 50-year-old filmmaker opened up about how the visual grandeur of Scott’s Crusader epic shaped his vision for *Jurassic World: Rebirth*. Edwards praised the film’s director of photography, John Mathieson, remarking on the film’s “perfection” and flawless cinematography. “There’s not a bad frame in this movie,” he stated, underscoring his longstanding admiration for Mathieson’s work.
Edwards, whose previous credits include *Rogue One: A Star Wars Story* and *The Creator*, explained how piecing together his creative team became a blend of personal choices and studio preferences. “When you start a film like this, you have a group of names you’d like to work with, and the studio have a group of names they would trust,” he explained, highlighting the collaborative balance behind major Hollywood productions.
One crucial recruit for the new film was visual effects expert David Vickery, a seasoned veteran of the Jurassic franchise, having worked on both *Fallen Kingdom* (2018) and *Dominion* (2022). Edwards explained that Vickery was initially hesitant to return to the world of dinosaurs. “He didn’t want to do another one,” Edwards disclosed. Despite this reluctance, the director remained determined to lure Vickery back, prioritising a more lifelike and documentary-style portrayal of prehistoric creatures.
“I don’t want this to feel animated,” Edwards told Vickery. “I would love it if we could build a massive catalogue of natural history and, essentially, every single shot in this movie is based on a piece of existing footage of a real animal really doing whatever it is that’s happening.” This approach aims to ground the visual effects in realism, setting the new film apart from previous entries and other blockbusters reliant on CGI.
Plot details for *Jurassic World: Rebirth*, which is slated for UK cinema release on 2 July 2025, suggest a fresh direction for the long-running franchise. The story centres around a team of elite operatives—played by a charismatic cast including Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali—who race against time to prevent a clandestine biotech organisation from unleashing weaponised dinosaurs across the globe.
As the narrative unfolds, audiences can expect a blend of high-octane action and suspense, with the operatives forced to confront a dark secret that ties back to the original Jurassic legacy. Edwards has been vocal about his intention to revive the horror undercurrents of the original 1993 *Jurassic Park*, a film he describes as “a horror film in the witness protection programme.” He reminisces about his own childhood fear watching the T. rex sequence, describing it as “one of the most well-directed scenes in cinema history”.
The director’s commitment to reinstating the sense of primal fear associated with dinosaurs is a deliberate move. As he put it, “There’s something very primal that’s buried deep inside everybody. As mammals, we evolved [with] this fear of the bigger animal that’s going to come one day and maybe kill us or our family.” Edwards asserts that the tension and dread inherent in these ancestral anxieties are what make the franchise so compelling.
Jurassic World’s return promises not just visual spectacle but also a psychological edge, reflecting the director’s unique blend of influences. As anticipation builds towards its summer 2025 debut, audiences are eager to see how Edwards’ creative choices—including his nod to Ridley Scott’s medieval epic—will shape the future of cinematic dinosaurs. With its star-studded cast and a pledging return to suspenseful storytelling, *Rebirth* looks poised to reinvigorate the franchise for a new generation.