Jurassic World Rebirth Director Gareth Edwards Got Some Crucial Advice From Steven Spielberg

Director Gareth Edwards is no stranger to taking on beloved franchises that people feel very strongly about. After only making one ultra-low-budget movie in the form of "Monsters," he was tasked with helming 2014's "Godzilla," which kicked off the MonsterVerse as we know it. He then moved right into a galaxy far, far away with "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," which was a massive hit. So, making "Jurassic World Rebirth," the seventh chapter in the long-running dino property, shouldn't have been too intimidating. Except, this one carried the Steven Spielberg factor.

Spielberg directed the original "Jurassic Park" and "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," staying on to produce all of the other sequels. So, anyone who takes on one of these movies will be dealing directly with Spielberg, one of the most beloved filmmakers to ever do it. Fortunately, Edwards had a very good experience working with him on "Rebirth," which has been a big hit in the early going. He even gave Edwards some crucial advice.

Speaking with Syfy Wire, the director revealed, "He said, 'Making a film for the cinema, it's like being a chef and making a meal. The only difference is that when you're a chef for the cinema, the audience has to leave hungry. If they leave full, you've kind of failed.'" Edwards further explained that this was counterintuitive, but he took it to heart:

"It was an interesting thing, because it goes against your instincts. You're trying to please the audience and make them happy. And the audience — especially in a test screening — they'll tell you what they want to be happier. But it's not about that. It's about creating anticipation and surprise and, in a weird way, having them leave and want to go back and watch it again. Obviously, that's where you have the big success like he has. And so I really took that to heart."

"It was super interesting. And it's that piece of advice where, the second you hear it, you go, 'Oh, of course!'" Edwards concluded. "Retrospectively, it's obvious. But I'd never really thought about it like that. And so yeah, that was super useful."

Speaking more broadly, Edwards addressed what it was like getting notes from Spielberg on the film. Now, studio notes can often be a point of contention. In fact, they can often be outright bad. An executive wanted to cut some of the drumming from the Oscar-winning "Whiplash," a movie all about drumming, as one shining example. However, Edwards said that getting notes from Spielberg was a different beast:

"When someone gives you some notes, you can't help it, but in part of your brain, you go, 'Yeah, but what do you know? What have you ever done?' But with Steven, if you go, 'What have you done?' The answer is, every masterpiece you've ever loved. So, you sit there a bit like, 'I'm just gonna do everything you say. Every single note you give, I'm doing it.'"

"Rebirth" was written by David Koepp, who also wrote the script for the original "Jurassic Park." The script is then interpreted by the director, though, and Edwards brought a lot to the table here, including quite a few new dinosaurs (not to mention taking the action to a new island, namely Ile Saint-Hubert). When it came to dealing with the studio, in this case Universal Pictures, having Spielberg on his side proved to be highly valuable as well:

"Me saying I want it a certain way on some big decision will only get me so far with the studio. But Steven Spielberg saying it, or getting to say, 'I'm doing this, as Steven said...,' It's kind of like a bulldozer in the note world that just goes, 'This is what's happening.' It was really, really useful as a filmmaker to have him on your side like that."

"Jurassic World Rebirth" is in theaters now.