Gareth Edwards doesn't 'feel guilty' about Jaws reference in Jurassic World Rebirth

Perth Now

02-05-2025

Gareth Edwards doesn't "feel guilty" about a Jaws reference in 'Jurassic World Rebirth' because it was approved by Steven Spielberg.
The moviemaker has taken the helm of the dinosaur franchise for the seventh film which comes 32 years after Spielberg directed 'Jurassic Park' - based on the book of the same name by Michael Crichton - and the latest movie features a scene taken from the original book in which a dinosaur stalked a group of people on a raft from the water and Edwards admits it seems like a nod to Spielberg's shark classic 'Jaws'.
He told Empire magazine: "You can't put a fin in the water and have it be a threat to people on a boat without thinking of a particular film ['Jaws'].
"And I would feel really guilty about this, except for the fact that the screenplay was given to me by Steven Spielberg."
Spielberg is an executive producer on 'Jurassic World Rebirth' which has reteamed him with screenwriter David Koepp - who penned the script for the original 1993 blockbuster and its 1997 sequel 'The Lost World'.
Koepp previously revealed he re-read Crichton's two 'Jurassic Park' books to get him back into the mindset to work on a new movie - and he ended up using the water scene from the first novel which never made it into the first two films.
He told Variety: "I reread the two novels to get myself back in that mode though. We did take some things from them.
"There was a sequence from the first novel that we'd always wanted in the original movie, but didn't have room for. We were like, 'Hey, we get to use that now.'
"But just to get back in that head space 30 years later - is it still fun? And the answer is yes, it still really is. Dinosaurs are still fun."
Koepp loved working on the original two 'Jurassic Park' films, and he's excited to be making a return for the next instalment.
He added: "The first two movies were two of my favorite experiences ever. And Steven [Spielberg] said, 'What about starting over? Let's try something all new.'
"I said, 'Oh, that's a cool idea. What if blah, blah, blah,' and then I threw an idea back. That's it. It caught.
"You do that all the time with your friends and collaborators: throw ideas back and forth. And sometimes they catch, usually they don't."
He admitted there was still "pressure" because of big budgets and high expectations, but original talks were simply framed around "the pursuit of our ideas".
Edwards previously admitted he wanted 'Jurassic World Rebirth' to return to the franchise's "horror" roots because the 1993 original terrified him as a child.
He told Vanity Fair magazine: "'Jurassic Park' [the original] is a horror film in the witness protection program. Most people don't think of it like that.
"We all went to see it as kids. But I was scared s*******, to be honest, when I was at the cinema watching the T. rex attack.
"It's one of the most well-directed scenes in cinema history, so the bar's really high to come on board and try and do this."
Edwards added: "There's something very primal that's buried deep inside everybody. As mammals, we evolved [with] this fear of the bigger animal that's going to come one day and maybe kill us or our family.
"The second we see it happening onscreen, you're like, 'I knew it … We had it too good for too long'."
Edwards went on to reveal he drew inspiration from some of his favourite movies - including the 'Alien' and 'Star Wars' franchises - to create a scary new dinosaur.
He explained: "When you make a creature, you get a big, massive pot and you pour in your favorite monsters from other films and books ... "Some ['Star Wars' beast] Rancor went in there, some H.R. Giger ['Alien' designer] went in there, a little T. rex went in there …"