Why David Leitch turns down ‘Jurassic World’ sequel
Why David Leitch turns down ‘Jurassic World’ sequel. The director of ‘Deadpool 2’ would have broken off negotiations with Universal Pictures due to creative differences, but the release date would have had a lot to do with it.
By Megan Sauer
‘Jurassic World 4’, or whatever the new film in the saga will be called, has already encountered its first problem.
David Leitch, until now the leading candidate to take over directing, had turned down the job, leaving Universal with the task of searching for a new director, and soon.
Why soon? Because the studio has already announced its release date, and it’s not that far away. July 2, 2025 is when they intend to bring what has been described as a new stage in the franchise to theaters, since it would not feature the protagonists of the previous ones.
Although the negotiations broke down amicably due to creative differences between the director of ‘Deadpool 2’ and Universal, THR reports that the problem would have been that basically the studio wants someone to shoot what they have already been preparing for some time, hence the release date is so close.
Roll without asking questions
Apparently, Leitch found that Universal already had much of the film planned, with the script written, some dinosaur designs, and some of the pre-production done.
The director would have liked to give it more of his personal stamp and incorporate ideas, but with only a year and a half of margin “there is not enough time to work on new ideas” according to a source close to the project.
What the sources do not agree on is what those ideas would be. It is logical to think that a director like David Leitch, in charge of titles like ‘Atomica’ or ‘Bullet Train’, would take ‘Jurassic World’ more towards action. But some crazy rumors, such as arming dinosaurs, have already been denied.
We just have to wait for Universal Pictures to look for a replacement soon and start moving all the production machinery or changing the release date a little later.
The task is great enough to start running: it is no small feat to start a new path for a franchise that has performed very well at the box office, but whose latest installment, ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’, did not achieve critical approval and it was the one that grossed the least of the new trilogy (although it managed to reach one billion dollars worldwide).
David Leitch premieres his new film this year, precisely with Universal. This is ‘The Specialist’, in which Ryan Gosling becomes an action stunt double. It will hit theaters on April 26.
