David Koepp Says ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’ Returns To The Tone Of ‘Jurassic Park,’ & Spielberg’s UFO Movie Also Harkens Back To His Earlier Days

David Koepp stopped by The Discourse recently to talk about his latest career developments, like working with Steven Soderbergh on “Presence.” But Koepp also teased his return to a major franchise he once help make a classic: “Jurassic Park.” He writes Garth Edwards‘ upcoming “Jurassic World: Rebirth,” his first film in the franchise since “The Lost World: Jurassic Park.” So what brought Koepp back to pen a new dinosaur actioner after 25 years?

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In Koepp’s words , it was the chance to write a streamlined script in a familiar world. “That was a ball. I had such a nice time on it,” said about writing “Rebirth.” I hope people like the movie because the series tended to change after three, and it felt like, ‘Okay, so let’s change our tone.” Steven [Spielberg] and I were interested in a tone that was maybe more akin to the very first movie. I saw it early on as a mission movie. I like things that are driven by bottles, by containment, you know?”

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“And so, developing a limited team and a thing that they have to accomplish – that was all really fun,” Koepp continued. “And it was just fun to return to that world of great adventure backed by real science and write some cool new characters. You don’t often get a chance to have a blank slate and say, ‘What do you want to do?’ There were no franchise expectations other than dinosaurs.”

Koepp even went so far as to create a list of rules the franchise needs to abide by moving forward, which was inspired by the most unlikely of sources. “I actually wrote a list of our nine commandments, which was inspired by Chuck Jones, who had written nine commandments for the Roadrunner cartoons – like all adventures must take place in the American Southwest, gravity is always the coyote’s worst enemy, all products must come from the Acme corporation,” Koepp said. “And so I made a list of things that we had to abide by – one was the events of the previous six movies that cannot be contradicted or denied because I don’t like a retcon. Those are no fun. Two, Humor is oxygen. Science must be real. You know, all the things that we wanted our movie to be. And I just had a great fun doing it with Steven and then with Gareth [Edwards].”

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Reflecting on the experience, Koepp described the surreal nature of returning to a franchise 30 years later. “It was trippy to go back to a London soundstage 30 years after I walked onto a Los Angeles soundstage and see the jungle and the people in their jungle gear,” he said. “And it was just all back. It even smelled the same.” But the cast of “Rebirth” are all newcomers to “Jurassic Park” this time around. Edwards’ new film stars Scarlett Johannson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahersala Ali, and hits theaters on July 2, 2025.

And while the new “Jurassic Park” movie isn’t an official reunion between Koepp and Spielberg, Spielberg’s upcoming UFO blockbuster certainly is. Koepp also had enough time on the podcast to confirm that his upcoming collaboration with the director is a sci-fi adventure reminiscent of Spielberg’s earlier works. “Yes, it is like a sci-fi… Well, I don’t know. I’m not supposed to say. But, yes, it is,” Koepp confirmed. “It does harken back to maybe a different tone than [what he’s done lately]. Something he used to do that he hasn’t done for a little bit.”

In other words, everything old is new again when it comes to Koepp’s recent scriptwriting. Spielberg’s next picture hits theaters on May 15, 2026.– Additional reporting by Mike DeAngelo.