‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ Quickly Tops the Netflix Chart Days After Debut

Gareth Edwards was plucked from relative obscurity after he released his genre-bending Monsters, which was essentially a road-trip romance experience, though the journey just so happened to pass through regions filled with otherworldly beasts. His character-driven storytelling first allowed him to kick off the Monsterverse with 2014’s Godzilla, followed by a venture to the galaxy far, far away with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. After delivering his own original narrative with The Creator, Edwards would return to an established franchise to put his own spin on it, and fans can’t get enough of it.

For his latest film, Edwards merged the old with the new, as he took extinct creatures and explored them in a contemporary storyline. He’s far from the first to do this, as Steven Spielberg’s original Jurassic Park brought dinosaurs back to life, though not content with their mere existence anymore, Jurassic World Rebirth explored the beasts in an all-new way. While the original Jurassic Park saw humans reviving dinosaurs, Rebirth delivered an adventure in which dinosaurs were the key to our salvation. And, just days after its arrival on Netflix, fans are eating it up and taking it to the #1 movie on the Netflix charts.

What this means for more Jurassic World, and whether Edwards will return, is another question entirely.

A Financial Step Back for the Series

Jurassic World Rebirth was a definite success for Universal Pictures, as it went on to take in $339.6 million domestically on its way to $869.1 million globally. Despite those massive numbers, Rebirth was actually a bit of a step back for the franchise, as it marked the first entry not to cross $1 billion worldwide since Jurassic Park III. After years of the series lying dormant, Jurassic World fully revived interest in the series and introduced an entirely new generation to the concept.

With Rebirth, the creative team tried to find the balance between the old and the new, and in a more effective way than in Jurassic World Dominion. As you can see in the featurette above, original writer David Koepp penned the script for this sequel, and this sequel even repurposed a scene scrapped from Michael Crichton’s novel. And, by taking the dinosaurs out of the park, it continued the trajectory of the trilogy of movies that came before it.

In addition to the film failing to meet the box-office heights of its predecessor, it fell a bit flat with critics, sitting at only 50% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite rumors and reports emerging in the months since Rebirth‘s release, the next chapter has yet to officially be announced.

Gareth Edwards’ ‘Rogue One’ Dilemma and His Filmmaking Prowess

Walt Disney Studios

Edwards’ Godzilla was an undeniable improvement from the last American Godzilla in 1998, even if the bar was quite low. When Rogue One was released, it took in more than $1 billion worldwide. However, after the movie’s release, reports began to emerge about Rogue One earning substantial re-shoots and re-edits, which were reportedly overseen by the movie’s writer, Tony Gilroy. Fans quickly began to notice many scenes that appeared in trailers didn’t make it to the final movie, leaving many to speculate about how different Edwards’ original movie was from what hit theaters.

Despite his success, Edwards wouldn’t make another movie until 2023’s The Creator, with that original title leading many to wonder if he was intentionally distancing himself from established franchises. Instead, Edwards surprised many by jumping into such a beloved series with Jurassic World Rebirth. With no official details having been released about a Rebirth sequel, it’s currently unclear if Edwards will return for a potential follow-up or if his single outing was all he was interested in.