Jurassic World Rebirth Director on Getting Notes from Franchise Mastermind Steven Spielberg
Jurassic World Rebirth comes exclusively to Peacock on Thursday, October 30!
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Dinosaurs continue to rule the Earth! Jurassic World Rebirth remains in the Top 5 of all worldwide 2025 box office releases, with director Gareth Edwards' latest entry in the Jurassic World franchise — starring Scarlett Johansson (Zora Bennett), Mahershala Ali (Duncan Kincaid) and Jonathan Bailey (Dr. Henry Loomis) — finding the right mix of scares and wonder for audiences everywhere. And on Thursday October 30, everyone with a Peacock subscription can watch the film exclusively on the streaming platform.
Executive produced by franchise mastermind Steven Spielberg, Jurassic World Rebirth takes place on Île Saint-Hubert, site of the secret InGen genetics laboratory that has since become the home for all kinds of dinosaur mutations. As a life-long fan of the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World films (all of which are coming to Peacock on Saturday, November 1), Edwards not only got to direct a new installment, but he also did it under the guidance of his cinematic hero, Mr. Spielberg himself.
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NBC Insider asked Edwards what it was like to get feedback from the man who created the whole franchise, and what advice he got from Spielberg that made an impact on making Jurassic World Rebirth.
Jurassic World Rebirth director Gareth Edwards on Steven Spielberg's influence
A man of many franchises, including Star Wars, Godzilla and now Jurassic World, Edwards told NBC Insider before the film's July release that he was offered the Rebirth gig only 18-months out from release, but he signed up because of the dinosaurs and the strength of screenwriter David Koepp's script.
"The thing that stood out to me, when I read Koepp's script was just the characters," Edwards said. "The dynamics between the characters were really strong, great dialog, great dynamics between everybody. It was a relief because typically on a movie that's one of the hardest things to achieve, to care about the people you're following. So, I was like, 'Fantastic. That's done! Now I can go play over here and know that that's taken care of, to some extent.' It allowed me to do my thing a bit more with the fun, visual roller coaster of it. The reason I get excited about a Jurassic film is, it's like a horror film on the witness protection program."
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Edwards said it also helped that he was, and remains, a devout student of Spielberg's work. "As a child, I absorbed it and I've always been studying his work, consciously and subconsciously," Edwards said.
"I'd find myself doing a shot on the set, and I'd be sort of like, 'Oh, that's kind of cool. I quite like the way that played out.' You pat yourself on the back and then about halfway through, I'd suddenly remember the scene from a movie of his that I'm copying, and feel a bit deflated," he chuckled. "But I think everybody pulls from all kinds of film for inspiration. And obviously I had a total license on this one for it to be Steven."
The best advice Steven Spielberg gave Gareth Edwards about directing Jurassic World Rebirth
Edwards confirmed that Spielberg was a very engaged executive producer on Jurassic World Rebirth during pre-production, production on location, and during post-production.
Asked if Spielberg's advice influenced anything in particular during the shoot, Edwards said, "I remember there was one particular moment early on in the shoot, and I wanted to do a bunch of handheld. I wanted to give some pieces of it a little organic, subjective feeling. I was thinking, 'Oh god, it's not really something you see in Jurassic so much. Will they freak out?'"
Edwards said he got his answer during a night shoot at the start of production on location in Thailand, when he was working with Johansson, Ali, and Bailey. "I wasn't expecting it but [producer] Frank Marshall came up and handed me his phone. I looked and it was a FaceTime with Spielberg. You're not expecting to see Spielberg at the end of your hand when you're holding a phone, right?" he chuckled.
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"I don't know if he was doing it on purpose, but we just chatted and he was very supportive and very complimentary about what we'd shot," Edwards continued. "He was really, really kind about it all. He loved what he was seeing. And he said, 'Oh, you need to do some handheld?' And I went, 'Yeah, sure.' And he went, 'Oh, yeah? Cool.'"
From that moment on, Edwards said he felt encouraged to go with his instincts. And the same happened during post-production, when Edwards said they were working on a specific sequence, and Spielberg called with feedback.
"He had just watched it and he used the metaphor, 'You're a chef and you have to leave the audience slightly hungry because then they'll come back to the restaurant. If you make them full, that's it. You want them to watch it again. Don't make them full. Keep them hungry.' And I was like, 'Okay, that's super, super interesting, useful information.'"
Jurassic World Rebirth makes its streaming debut October 30 exclusively on Peacock. All six previous Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies make their way to Peacock two days later, Saturday, November 1.
