The director of 'Jurassic World Rebirth', Gareth Edwards, explains why he put Steven Spielberg easter eggs in the film

Business Insider

3 days ago

Kids often dream of becoming police officers or doctors. For "Jurassic World Rebirth" director Gareth Edwards, however, his childhood dream was a bit more specific: working with iconic director Steven Spielberg. And now it's finally come true with the latest in the dinosaur action film franchise.
Edwards has found the Hollywood moviemaking sweet spot: directing major blockbusters that are also creatively satisfying.
He found geek boy superstardom when he made the first-ever spin-off in the " Star Wars" franchise, 2016's " Rogue One: A Star Wars Story." It's gone on to be regarded as one of the best ever within the beloved galaxy far, far away (though he disagrees with that opinion).
He followed that up by creating an original idea out of the studio system, a rarity these days, when he released 2023's "The Creator." The movie stars John David Washington as a special forces agent hired to hunt down and kill an AI.
Now, Edwards is taking on the legacy IP genre by helming "Jurassic World Rebirth," out now. Taking place decades after the events of "Jurassic World Dominion," the story, penned by " Jurassic Park" screenwriter David Koepp, follows Scarlett Johansson as the leader of a team of operatives who travel to an island research facility to take genetic material from dinosaurs.
For Edwards, making the movie checked off a childhood dream of working alongside Steven Spielberg, who was heavily involved in the filmmaking process. And it shows as "Rebirth" features several hat tips to the master, ranging from "Jurassic Park" to "Jaws."
"I hate the word IP, but there are only two franchises I would absolutely drop everything for and just do them. I already did one of them with 'Star Wars,' and this was the other one," Edwards told Business Insider. "So when Steven gives you this script, you're just checkmated immediately. The idea that you turn Steven Spielberg down is impossible."
BI spoke with Edwards while he was in New York City about the hourslong conversations he had with Spielberg while making the movie, his thoughts on "Rogue One" as it nears its 10th anniversary, and whether he'd ever consider making another "Star Wars" movie.
After "The Creator," I started the process of what am I going to do next. There was a thing in my mind that I was excited about. And in that process, a sequence from "Jurassic Park" entered my mind, and I forgot how they pulled it off, so I just put it on to get a refresher. I'm doing this with "Jurassic" and the next day my friend saw on the internet that Universal was looking for a director for a new "Jurassic" movie.
So I sent that to my agent, and I just typed in the text with the link to the story, "Is this stupid?" hoping he'd say, "Yes, stay away." And hours later, my agent got back to me, and the ball started rolling. Be careful what you wish for.
What I really enjoyed about "Rebirth" is its stand-alone feel. Was that intentional?
It was in David Koepp's script. That's why I really liked it. What the best sequels have in common is that the first one didn't know it was part of a trilogy or the start of sequels. It was just this self-contained story. So that's the way to go, to try to tell the best film you can.
It's then a high-class problem after that. And I'm not joking, but I haven't had a single conversation about a sequel with anyone from Universal or the producers.
That was my follow-up. Nobody tapped you on the shoulder and suggested a more heavy-handed way to tease another movie?
No. It was even a joke with the actors.
But the movie also has a lot of nostalgia, with hat tips ranging from "Jurassic Park" to "Jaws. " Did that come organically?
When I got the script, it felt like a magical ticket back to being a kid again. So a lot of that was already in there, and half of it I probably brought with me.
I mean, you're making a movie for Amblin that features a giant creature in the water. Of course, you're going to lean into "Jaws."
Yeah. The script said, "They're chasing a giant dinosaur in the water, on a boat, with a rifle leading out the front," and you're like, "Guys, I don't know if you've ever seen this movie called 'Jaws,' but I don't know how we escape those visuals." So it was a difficult situation, and the only way I got through it was this being a giant love letter to Steven Spielberg. Whenever there's a gap, I'm going to put something in that is a reflection of something from his movies that we love.
You have now worked with two faces on the Mt. Rushmore of American cinema, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. Compare and contrast working for them.
Well, George had retired when we started "Rogue One," so he was totally happy for us to go do our thing. But I did have the more surreal moment of showing him around the set of "Rogue One." But what I did to take the pressure off myself, seeing I was doing a "Star Wars" spin-off, I was competing with the likes of the holiday special and Caravan of Courage, the Ewok adventure. So I jokingly framed those movie posters in my office as a reminder to me that I just have to do better than those.
Then, one day I was told George is here, and he just walked into the office, and I was blown away. And as I was talking to him, I realized the posters on the wall. So I'm trying to be as animated as possible so he wouldn't look at the wall.
Steven developed the story with David, so he was fully engaged from the start. He was in the meetings during preproduction. He would call me when I started shooting. He watched the dallies every day. We even sent him the first cut of the movie. I would have hour and a half phone calls with him giving me feedback.
Were you prepared he'd be so hands-on?
It was definitely the right amount, but going in I didn't know if I'd see him once or all the time. I didn't know how it was going to play out. And I remember on day one, the first meeting at Universal, I get there early, and the next person who walked in was Steven Spielberg.
I'll never forget the first interaction I ever had with him. It was right after "Godzilla." I got an email from ["The Lord of the Rings" creator] Peter Jackson, and there's a video attached. I hit play and it's Steven Spielberg. Peter Jackson was filming Steven Spielberg at George Lucas' birthday party. Steven had just seen "Godzilla" and was saying really nice things about it, so Peter sent it to me. I watched it and collapsed and burst into tears.
There are moments as a filmmaker where everything you're doing in your life, you ask, Why am I doing this? What is the goal? You don't know. That is the answer to why I'm doing this; for that moment, for that little video.
We're coming close to 10 years of "Rogue One" coming out in theaters. Do you appreciate your contribution to "Star Wars"? It's arguably the best "Star Wars" movie since Disney bought Lucasfilm, and it's up there as one of the best out of all the movies. Can you appreciate that?
I don't agree with it, but I appreciate it. I'm very grateful that people say nice things. But what's super interesting about it, which you have to keep in your pocket as you go through making other films, is that it's not about how people feel the day it gets released, it's how people feel about it 10, 20 years from now.
When you make a movie, you're living at least a year from now. You're trying to imagine what it's like, all these decisions you're making, what they are going to be like a year from now when this movie is released. What's the audience going to think? And as the movie comes out, you go, "I'm going to pretend I'm living 10 years from now and it doesn't matter what people say in the moment." It's the kid who comes up to you 20 years from now and goes, "Oh my god, I loved that movie!" I think that's the reward.
Would you ever go down that road of doing "Star Wars" again?
It's the thing that was in my life before I knew what a film was. And so it's like your mom; it's like something so a part of you. I'm always fascinated by what they're doing. I never stop loving that trilogy, but I'm very happy to move on and do my thing.