There are few franchises deeper in the modern malaise than Jurassic Park. The film that inspired a generation in the 90s led to a trio of legacy sequels that typify everything wrong with the current blockbuster system. The bitter, cynical desperation of dragging the original cast back for Jurassic Park Dominion was an open cry for help. Thankfully, Universal is letting that trilogy die with a little dignity. They're moving on to a new start, but the news coming out of the next Jurassic Park doesn't inspire hope.

The blockbuster scene has shifted dramatically since the early Jurassic Park days. It's currently in the midst of a massive sea change as the reliable box office winners lose steam and fall apart. Audiences are losing faith in massive franchises and desperately reaching toward anything that sounds new and fresh. The Jurassic World movies suffer from that ongoing decline, but they're also one of the biggest contributors to audience distrust.

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Jurassic Park's new director is a good sign

Gareth Edwards is attached to direct the next Jurassic Park film. There are very few better names to hear for this project. Edwards is such an excellent choice; it should be the slam dunk that can save this tanking franchise. Gareth Edwards worked as an animator and visual effects artist in his first several gigs before his directorial debut. He exploded onto the scene with his 2010 sci-fi horror outing, Monsters. Edwards directed, wrote, and shot the film on a tiny $500,000 budget. It turned into an impressive success, bringing in more than $4 million and earning widespread critical praise. That early accomplishment led Legendary Pictures to hand him their Godzilla reboot. Legendary had an uphill battle after Rolland Emmerich's disastrous 1998 take on the franchise, but Gareth Edwards delivered everything they needed from the project. He then helmed Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a messy but engaging take on the war aspect of Star Wars. Most recently, Edwards directed an original project called The Creator. It's a fascinating science fiction epic that brings some much-needed originality to the blockbuster space. Edwards will return to franchise fair, but his contributions have generally excelled.

The cast seems solid

The film currently known as Jurassic World 4 has four announced cast members. The first-billed name on the list is Jonathan Bailey. He's one of the major players on Netflix's hit series Bridgerton, where he portrays Lord Anthony Bridgerton. Bailey generally does more TV than film, but he'll soon appear in both parts of Wicked. The biggest name in the cast is Scarlett Johansson. Johansson recently ended her eleven-year run with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She's steered clear of major franchises since Black Widow, but Jurassic Park will likely mark her blockbuster return. If the new trilogy follows the most recent one, the cast will stick around through its entries. Rupert Friend is also attached. Friend recently co-starred with Johansson in Wes Anderson's Midnight City. He has had several unusual roles in his past, including the title role in Hitman: Agent 47. Though mostly unrecognizable, he portrays the Grand Inquisitor in Obi-Wan Kenobi. The final promised cast member is Manuel Garcia-Rulfo. Garcia-Rulfo is likely best known for his role as Vasquez in Antoine Fuqua's underrated 2016 remake of The Magnificent Seven. Though the film will likely have many more performers, the announced cast and crew seem promising. Unfortunately, that isn't the only news surrounding the film.

The last director left the project

Universal Pictures initially tapped David Leitch for the new Jurassic Park. The co-director of John Wick and the creator of many similar action projects stepped away from the upcoming sequel. In fairness, judging only by their past work, Gareth Edwards is a far better choice for the project. The producers didn't make that call. Leitch escaped Jurassic World because he felt that he would have limited creative input. According to Borys Kit at The Hollywood Reporter,

Colin Trevorrow directed the Jurassic World films. The third outing convinced producers, including Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall, and Patrick Crowley, to take control from any future filmmakers. This should be a massive threat to the continued success of this franchise. It smacks of the same risk-averse cowardice that led to the critical failure of the Jurassic World trilogy. These are producers who felt that a film dragging the old cast of the original series back for one last ride was simply too bold and artistic. This suggests a Jurassic Park movie with several impressive names on the IMDb page and a very unimpressive producer-driven experience on the big screen.

The Jurassic World movies struggled for lack of a meaningful creative vision. Every entry felt like a cynical attempt to appeal to nostalgic fans, with very few new elements. Though this process made money, it earned consistent critical disapproval and alienated fans. The next film will have an excellent filmmaker behind the camera and several great stars in front of it, but if the producers take full control, that talent won't matter much. The next Jurassic Park could be a bold step forward, but, just like the titular theme park, no one should be surprised if things go wrong again.

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