NEW YORK — Creating guidelines when unleashing dinosaurs on the big screen can be quite beneficial. As screenwriter David Koepp reentered familiar terrain with “Jurassic World Rebirth,” set to hit theaters on July 2, he deemed it essential to establish a framework. Having crafted the script for the original “Jurassic Park” and its 1997 sequel, “The Lost World,” Koepp returns for the franchise’s seventh installment. This opportunity allowed him to realign the franchise’s direction and ensure it didn’t stray from its roots.
With a resume that includes notable films like “Carlito’s Way” and “Mission: Impossible,” Koepp was inspired by Chuck Jones, the animator behind the Roadrunner cartoons, to implement a set of guidelines for this film and its successors. Jones’s “commandments” for the cartoons comprised rules such as the Roadrunner only vocalizing “meep meep”, the coyote never catching him, gravity serving as the coyote’s primary foe, and all items emerging from the ACME Corporation.
“I found those organizing principles to be brilliant,” Koepp notes. “Writing becomes easier with guidelines, a framework, and a predetermined agreement. So, I crafted nine directives of my own.” In a recent discussion, he shared some key directives—though he kept a few under wraps.
First, the narrative established in the initial six films cannot be contradicted. “I despise retcon. I dislike altering storylines with additions like, ‘Oh, that didn’t happen; it was his twin.’ I reject alternate timelines. So, we must honor all that’s developed over the past 32 years, while acknowledging that changes do occur.”
Next, dinosaurs should be portrayed as animals, not monsters. During the production of the first movie, any crew member referring to them as monsters would face monetary penalties. “They are animals with motivations reflecting hunger or territorial defense, not monsters. They don’t attack because they’re frightening or sneak up to intimidate.”
Another critical point addressed humor as indispensable. “You cannot forget it,” asserts Koepp. A further rule highlights the need for authentic science. “The tone Steven Spielberg and I discovered in the first film—a blend of grand adventure, real science, and humor—has been absent from other projects I’ve undertaken. It feels joyous to revisit that unique combination.”
Lastly, the tone should steer clear of being ponderous or overly serious. While several other rules remain confidential and considered trade secrets by Koepp, these principles undoubtedly aim to enhance the film’s cohesion and adherence to its legendary origins.