Movies
Steven Spielberg Exploring ‘Jurassic Park’ Reboot
Just a few weeks after I scoffed at Jurassic Park star Sam Neill calling the franchise “done” (seriously, what the hell does he know?), the Hollywood Reporter is saying director/producer Steven Spielberg has been meeting with screenwriter Mark Protosevich to kick around ideas for how to reboot the lucrative dino-tale. (They can’t get it off the ground just by using the the moniker “3-D”?)
Both Universal, which released the trilogy, and Spielberg’s camp stress that no one has been engaged to write a script and that the discussions have been purely exploratory. But the idea is kind of a no-brainer.
The franchise, born of the late Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel, has been in stuck in amber since 2001, when Joe Johnston directed Jurassic Park III from a script by Peter Buchman, Jim Taylor and Alexander Payne. That last entry signaled the series’ fading fortunes, as it grossed just $369 million worldwide — Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park grossed $915 million and $619 million, respectively.
Several years ago, Spielberg worked with Protosevich on a potential remake of Chan-wook Park’s Oldboy that was to star Will Smith.
Brendan Fraser is back for the upcoming fourth installment in The Mummy franchise from directors Radio Silence, and Michael Johnston (Obsession) is now in talks to join him.
The Hollywood Reporter lets us know tonight that Michael Johnston is in “early talks” to join The Mummy 4, which will release in theaters on October 15, 2027 via Universal.
Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, and John Hannah will reprise their iconic roles as Rick O’Connell, Evelyn O’Connell, and Jonathan Carnahan in the upcoming movie.
Radio Silence duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not, Scream 5-6) are directing from a script by David Coggeshall (Orphan: First Kill).
Plot details are being kept under wraps at this time, but the brand new sequel is expected to disregard the events of the third movie, in which Rachel Weisz did not appear.
“It’s just really beautiful and scary and sweeping, and it’s awesome,” Gillet teases. Bettinelli-Olpin adds that the film “has all of the heart and the character that you could hope for.”
A remake of the classic Universal monster movie that took an action-adventure approach, The Mummy was released in 1999 and grossed $417 million worldwide. It was followed by The Mummy Returns in 2001 and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor in 2008.