Two Dinosaur Movies Coming in 2025, As Warner Bros. and Universal Ramp Up Productions
Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures are racing to get new dinosaur movies out in theaters by 2025, but so far, one is getting ahead of the other.
Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy at Warner Bros. are moving full steam ahead with David Robert Mitchell’s untitled dinosaur movie, as Ewan McGregor has signed on to co-star in it, along with Anne Hathaway, Deadline reported last week. No release date has been made public yet, but with the two leads now in place, and a solid script behind it, production should go underway in March, according to World of Reel. They add that the working title is Flowervale Street.
The movie will be the first project from the It Follows director since 2018’s Under the Silver Lake. Details remain under wraps, with Deadline describing it as a “thrill ride” set to be shot in IMAX, and The Hollywood Reporter adding that McGregor and Hathaway will play parents in “a family adventure set in the 1980s that involves dinosaurs”. The kid roles are yet to be cast.
Meanwhile, Universal Pictures set an ambitious July 2, 2025, release date for their next Jurassic World movie, which has been internally described as a second relaunch of the franchise, with none of the cast of the last few movies returning. David Koepp wrote the script, which is in a very advanced state. Donna Langley and her team are looking for a “shooter”, a director who understands the vision for the project and is capable of delivering what the studio wants under a very tight deadline.
The top choice for the studio was reported to be The Fall Guy director David Leitch, though the deal fell through. According to TheInSneider.com, this was because Leitch’s producing partner at 87th North, Kelly McCormick, dismissed the line producer of the film over disagreements with the budget. Said line producer was a longtime friend and collaborator of Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall’s (both EPs at Lucasfilm), and the two quickly intervened. Leitch’s exit was described as “amicable”.
There was an extra pressure added to Langley’s already-tight July 2025 date. Marvel Studios dated last week their Fantastic Four reboot for later that month, which also includes James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy. Now, Superman is likely not moving, especially since it’s the movie in the most advanced stage at this point (filming will begin in just a few weeks in Atlanta), and the July 11 date is also a very sentimental one to James Gunn.
Marvel is highly speculated to be moving one of their four 2025 movies out of that calendar year, probably Blade, which would open up a November window for Fantastic Four to move into. But will Universal also blink, or will they take their chances against the Man of Steel? All three of these movies are make-or-break for their respective studios. If Universal can’t find a filmmaker within the next two-to-three weeks, they might be forced to push their plans.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
