As the release of Jurassic World : Rebirth inches closer, questions about the story and the exact location of the film remain. One of the most pressing questions is: just where exactly does this film take place and how exactly will it expand and deepen the Jurassic World mythos? As it turns out, much of the film was shot in Thailand, with its natural and picturesque jungles being a perfect locale for filming. Jungle sites are a familiar part of almost every Jurassic film, but Rebirth offers clues into how this film may be taking a new direction with its locale.
At the conclusion of Jurassic World: Dominion, it seemed like the dinosaurs and humanity would finally find a peaceful coexistence with each other. With Rebirth, which takes place five years after the conclusion of Dominion, it seems that the dinosaurs have been unable to adapt to earth's rapidly changing climate of the twenty-first century. Only a handful of the ancient dinosaurs still exist, residing in "specialized biospheres" that are apparently more similar to the dinosaurs' ancient climates than the rest of earth. Scarlett Johansson graces the screen as Zora Bennett, whose mission is to acquire the genetic material from the remaining dinosaurs but, in true Jurassic World style, becomes stranded on the mysterious island that apparently contains secrets previously unknown and unrevealed in earlier Jurassic entries.
The revelation of both the filming location and the deeper story details begs the question: is there yet another island of the Jurassic mythos that has been unexplored and unknown?
In the 1993 original, we were brought to Isla Nublar, which was directed by Steven Spielberg and filmed in Hawaii. The 1997 sequel, The Lost World, was likewise partly-filmed in Hawaii, taking place on Isla Sorna, the original breeding ground for the dinosaurs—or so we thought. 2015's Jurassic World returned us to the original Isla Nublar, and likewise was partially filmed in the Pacific state. Zora's words that the island "was the original research facility" for Jurassic Park perhaps tells it all: this is a previously unknown site.
While we can only know for sure when Rebirth is released, the completely new filming location and the suggestions of a new island imply that this film takes us to something totally new in the Jurassic series. And in a time when moviegoers often criticize Hollywood for constantly rebooting and remaking the same storylines, perhaps a new locale and a new island—along with an old secret—is exactly what is needed to make Jurassic World: Rebirth all the more exciting.
Jurassic World: Rebirth opens in theaters on July 2, 2025.