Do you feel that? It's Jurassic World Rebirth!
The dinosaurs are approaching
Do you feel that? The impact tremors are shaking all around us, as the trailer for Jurassic World Rebirth debuts Wednesday! It’s finally starting to feel like the hype train is coming, as more and more of the film is being uncovered, along with upcoming video games, merchandise, theme park events, television shows, and more! We are currently in the before, so let’s sit here and enjoy it while we can.
In today’s newsletter, we dive into the teaser for the Jurassic World Rebirth trailer, look at a few episodes of Grim Grinning Hosts and The Forcecast that I think people will find interesting and of course talk about how we processed the before and after of a film’s debut. Let’s get into it.
A while back, Jennifer Evans and I recorded the segment on The Jurassic Park Podcast called The Jurassic Mailbag, in which we would play voicemails and read emails regarding the latest Jurassic topics. Over the course of three films releases, we found ourselves completely dialed into every aspect of the production and had our fingers on the pulse of the social media conversation surrounding every film. I loved that segment. I actually miss it quite a bit. One thing that sticks with me about those recordings is the excitement from the before times. There’s always unbridled curiosity and conversation about what will come next. What twists and turns will occur to change us as individuals watching the film? With the before of course comes the after. Occasionally, the tone shifted in the audience to a less joyful reaction, but mostly, the after created a new sense of curiosity. We saw what happened, so now what? Of course Jennifer and I had questions and thoughts on the mailbag, but for us, hearing what other people thought directly was the best part. Hearing what listeners thought during the before and the after were some of the best times we had while recording the podcast segment.
Let’s talk about the before. We are in it. It is now. At the release of this newsletter, we are living in the before of the the trailer, the film, the score, the marketing and pretty much everything having to do with Jurassic World Rebirth. It’s a truly special time. Of course we have a handful of images (a field, another filed, the field again, oh and a that same field again), but they don’t necessarily tell us the full story or give us the exact vibes we’ll see in the trailer. Today (Monday, February 3rd), was the first moment we saw moving images against the familiar location we’ve seen in the aforementioned images: the long grass field. Despite it being our first real footage, it still hasn’t hit me yet.
The before is the best. The future is limitless. With a film like Jurassic World Rebirth being the first of a potential new saga, everything feels so new and fresh. Anything is possible. We have a synopsis and some images, but that’s it. So much will change once the trailer arrives. I have been saying on the podcast and live streams for a while now that getting the trailer will fundamentally change the conversation as we know it. Not to say the conversation has been stale, but we’ve been at a stalemate in information, so a trailer will expand our horizons incredibly. We will be in the after of the trailer soon.
Now let’s talk about the after. We’re not there yet; but we’ve been there before. The after can be a tough space to live in. Will the film be good? Will I like the direction? Did the film match up with my theories? It can either be really good or really bad; that’s for you to decide. I’ve had a good experience with the after. Knowing the entirety of a film gives me tons of possibilities to discuss on the podcast. It’s not as limitless, but the there’s always so much to plot out for the future. It’s a bit impossible at the moment to even wonder where we can go after Rebirth, when we don’t have a clue where the film will leave us. Tangent, but it’s actually quite interesting to wonder if the after even exists at all. Is there an after or are we just in the before of the next film? Maybe a bit too existential for a newsletter.
While I enjoy the after, it can contain a tinge of sadness - it’s over. That’s it. The ride you experienced on the way to the film is over. You can’t go back. It’s cliche and a meme at this point, but in a lot of ways, the journey to the film was the friends we made along the way. It’s overplayed, but it’s the truth. You won’t forget the theories you had with friends, the bad takes, the incredible ideas, the enthusiasm - they may stay in the before, but they’ll always be there.
Jurassic World Rebirth teaser
Oh my god, did you see it? I’ve been speculating that the trailer would come during the Superbowl, but here we are, getting the the trailer a few days earlier than expected. All word pointed towards a Sunday release, but it’s honestly a welcome change. Now I don’t have to produce extra content during the game. Lol.
I had hoped Universal Pictures would take the approach DC Studios took with the upcoming Superman trailer, teasing us throughout the week, with an eventual trailer later in the week. Hopefully Tuesday comes and we get more teases to hype up the Wednesday trailer release.
So let’s actually talk about it. As I mentioned earlier in the newsletter, the footage in the teaser takes place in the long grass. I’ve been joking about this field for what feels like ages now. We’ve been lucky to get a bunch of photos from this film; one on a boat, near a vehicle, in a temple, but mostly in a field. Four separate photos to be exact. So now, here we are, back in the long grass with more or less the same looks we’ve seen from Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey. Scarlett rises to spot something behind the camera and Jonathan rotates to get a glimpse at the size of the creature around them. Jonathan turns to look at the wispy tail, dancing in the background. What may this creature be? All signs point towards the Titanosaurus. During the constant speculation of the long grass scene on the podcast, I’ve always been firm in assuming this sequence would be the long neck dinosaur scene. It’s certainly different than what we expect from the long grass, but it looks like this will be our Brachiosaurus - “Welcome to Jurassic Park” scene.
In the under ten second teaser, we hear the haunting atmospheric tones of dinosaurs from the past mixed in with the bellowing rumble of the Titanosaur. On top of that, you hear the four note motif that is used to kick off John Williams’ Theme From Jurassic Park. This time the motif is pitched higher, lessening the mystery and giving it a more childlike wonder. In addition to the atmosphere and music, we get some potential dialogue from the scene as Johnathan Bailey quietly mutters “Oh my god.” I’ve watched Wicked enough to know it’s him.
It’s a concise tease, which again makes me hope there are more teases on the way, but it is effective. I am hyped and I can’t wait to talk more about the actual trailer on Wednesday. Stay tuned to the podcast feed and live stream on Wednesday.
The Jurassic Park Podcast
PODCAST | I wanted to highlight a recent episode where I discussed the expected box office performance for Jurassic World Rebirth and 2025 as a whole - Hopefully it will help us understand where Rebirth will end it’s box office run. I gathered all the latest data and insights to back up my thoughts, so I hope you enjoy this one.
Also, our latest episode featured Paleontologist, Caroline Abbott, discussing the Lystrosaurus and Dimetrodon with Conor O’Keeffe! DINO DNA is an absolutely imperative segment to listen to if you want to understand more about the dinosaurs (or in this case, not dinosaurs) within the Jurassic Franchise!
LIVE STREAM | My most recent live stream was certainly an interesting one. In the middle of the stream, footage we were watching got taken down and we may have stumbled on why Jurassic Park: Survival has been radio silent. Give the stream a watch to get the intel!
VIDEO | Check out this sweet little video my daughter and I filmed! She was really excited to open the latest Captivz Slime Eggs that Playwise Partners sent out to us, so of course I had to include her in the video. Take a watch and enjoy!
Grim Grinning Hosts
One of our collective favorite rides over at GGH is the The Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror - which mean we absolutely had to put together a “20 Things” episode, discussing everything we love about the attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We were joined by two former bellhops, Niko and Duff to profess our love for one of the greatest rides to exist!
I also wanted to share our episode that kicked off the year, our 2025 Theme Park Predictions episode, where we predict 10 things that will most DEFINITELY happen in the Disney or Universal Parks this year! It’s one of my favorite podcast episodes that I do from year to year, so please check it out.
The Forcecast
The Forcecast is back with regular episodes! After covering Star Wars: Skeleton Crew over the course of it’s run, we are finally back discussing the latest Star Wars news and topics - and boy, there was a lot to catch up on! In the latest episode, we have everything from Imagineers in space, to Ryan Gosling and to whether or not you should watch Dune Part One before Dune Part Two.
It’s your turn…
What has been your favorite part of the before during the lead up to Jurassic World Rebirth? I’d love to hear what moment struck a chord with you! Send them over on social media or check out our contact page on our website.
Stay safe! Be Kind! Thank you SO MUCH for reading... and enjoy!