Just a few days ago, we got exciting news to roar about when it was reported that a new Jurassic World movie was in the works from the likes of John Wick and Deadpool 2 director David Leitch. But unfortunately, we’ll have to say goodbye to the hype surrounding the filmmaker contributing to the franchise already, because he’s apparently already left the project.
David Leitch allegedly is quickly walking in the other direction regarding the next Jurassic World movie due to creative differences with Universal Pictures, per The Hollywood Reporter. With the studio previously setting the release date for summer of 2025, we imagine Universal will quickly go back to the hunt for a filmmaker to helm the new project.
While David Leitch and Universal are reportedly not seeing eye-to-eye on the untitled Jurassic World movie, the director’s departure was allegedly “amicable” between them. Leitch was initially said to be the director of the movie on Monday, February 5, which was reported alongside its intended release date on July 2, 2025.
In the past decade, David Leitch has quickly become one of the most exciting directors of our time, especially when it comes to the best action movies of recent years. After getting his start in the industry as a stuntman and stunt coordinator, his directorial debut was 2014’s John Wick before he went on to also helm 2017’s Atomic Blonde, 2018’s Deadpool 2, 2019’s Hobbs & Shaw and 2022’s Bullet Train. It certainly would have interesting to see what the filmmaker brought to the dinosaur franchise.
The Jurassic World movie in the works is said to be a “completely fresh take” on the franchise that will not see the trilogy’s main stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard returning. The script is being developed by David Koepp, who wrote the screenplay for the original movie along with the 1997 sequel, The Lost World.
Jurassic Park’s Steven Spielberg is on as a producer for the project, and David Leitch and his wife Kelly McCormick were reportedly going to produce as well through their 87North production company. With this director shakeup, it’s unclear whether Leitch and McCormick will stay onboard as producers at this time.
The Jurassic World franchise has only remained untouched since the 2022 release of Jurassic World Dominion, which ended Colin Trevorrow’s modern trilogy starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. While critics were not particularly fond of the latest installment, the movie made over $1 billion at the worldwide box office, ranking No. 3 for the year under Avatar: The Way of Water and Top Gun: Maverick.
Overall, the Jurassic Park franchise is one of the highest-grossing film series of all time, having accumulated over $6 billion in box office revenue, so despite this setback, surely, life will find a way. David Leitch’s next film is The Fall Guy, which is among 2024 movies. It’s set to hit theaters on May 3.
