The upcoming movie Jurassic World Rebirth knows that we’ve seen it all before. As the seventh entry in a franchise that stretches back more than 30 years, the film makes no apologies for its place in cinema history. Like the first trailer released months ago, the newest Rebirth teaser features plenty of call-backs to the Steven Spielberg movie and the Michael Crichton book that inspired it, including waving red flares and a raft scene excised from Spielberg’s 1993 adaptation of Jurassic Park. However, the latest trailer also features something new to the franchise: a mutant dino that draws from the history of sci-fi movies, including Star Wars. Most of the trailer lays out the plot of the new movie, the first since director Colin Trevorrow completed the original Jurassic World trilogy with 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion. Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali play adventurers who lead a team of scientists, including one played by Wicked standout Jonathan Bailey, to a secret island where geneticists experimented in new dinosaur forms. “They left the worst ones here,” intones Johansson’s Zora Bennett, a warning that intensifies when accompanied by shots of familiar dinos like the T-Rex. In between images of high-adventure locations, with heroes rappelling down a cliff or riding a rollicking river, we see glimpses of some of those new, mutated dinosaurs. There’s a herd of brachiosaur types, with long snake-like tails whipping through the grass. There’s a pachycephalosaurus and pterodactylus mix slamming its head against a vehicle. There’s even a baby triceratops modified for maximum toy sales cuteness. But the highlight of the trailer is a much-hyped creature who opens and closes the trailer. Director Gareth Edwards, who broke out with the special effects-driven indie Monsters and went on to make Godzilla and The Creator, teased this new dinosaur back in February. Speaking to Vanity Fair, Edwards spoke of the creature’s influences, saying, “Some Rancor went in there, some H.R. Giger went in there, a little T. Rex went in there…”. That Star Wars influence is clear in the trailer. The clip opens with a well-worn sci-fi movie trope, in which a lab catastrophe leaves one member trapped inside. His colleagues, unable to help, must watch as the scientist begs for his life before being consumed by the monster he helped create. Through the smoke and red lighting, we see a massive set of sharp, crooked teeth. The creature extends its gigantic hand toward the scientist, suggesting a level of intelligence and ability heretofore unseen among dinosaurs. It appears again toward the end of the trailer, emerging from the trees. There we see its bulbous head and intelligent eyes, looking directly at its prey. From these glimpses we can see the influences that Edwards describes. The beast grabs the scientist in the same way that the Rancor grabbed the Gamorrean Guard in Return of the Jedi. The extra bump on the head reminds one of the almost helmet-like shield Giger gave the xenomorph in Alien. And it makes sense that Edwards would ground his take in the lineage of sci-fi cinema, establishing Jurassic World’s dinos among the movie monster greats. Will all of these references make for an exciting movie? We’ll have to wait until the summer for that answer when Jurassic World Rebirth takes us to the incredible island. Jurassic World: Rebirth stomps into theaters on July 2, 2025. #new #jurassic #world #rebirth #trailer