Why Edgar Wright Turned Down Directing Jurassic World: Rebirth

Edgar Wright's "The Running Man" isn't a remake of the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film. It's an adaptation of the 1982 Stephen King novel, which Wright had been hoping to make since he was young. As such, he chose to faithfully adapt King's story rather than direct 2025's "Jurassic World: Rebirth," which may not have been the best idea considering "The Running Man" didn't have the best box office debut. That said, it's not as if "Jurassic World: Rebirth" was a critical triumph.

The 2025 blockbuster was overseen by Gareth Edwards, who delivered a back-to-basics dino flick that quickly got stuck in the mud. The standalone sequel to 2022's god awful "Jurassic World Dominion" suggested it really was time to give this franchise a break and let the re-animated dinos go extinct again (though the film did manage to make $868.8 million on a $225 million budget). Might Wright have delivered a more well-received entry in the franchise? Perhaps, but there was no way he was going to pass on finally making his "Running Man" adaptation.

When Universal Pictures and the "Jurassic World" franchise came calling, Wright was already eyeing up "The Running Man," and declined the opportunity to direct "Rebirth." You might wonder why he would say no to what was pretty much a guaranteed box office hit in favor of an '80s IP that was by no means sure to make any sort of decent profit. Well, it comes down to the fact that Wright had essentially wanted to make his version of "The Running Man" since he was a teenager.

Speaking to The Wrap, Edgar Wright explained how he turned down "Jurassic World: Rebirth," because he "knew that ['The Running Man'] was a possibility." This Stephen King adaptation wasn't just any project for the director, who recalled how he'd initially wanted to make the film after reading King's novel. "Even then, reading it as a teenager, before I even knew that I wanted to be a director, you visualize the movie in your head like you do when you read stuff," he recalled. "When I saw the 1987 movie, I realized that it was a very loose adaptation of the book and only really kept a couple of elements." As such, Wright became fascinated by the idea of faithfully bringing King's original story to the big screen. So, when "Rebirth" came up, the director basically didn't have a choice.

Still, Wright did have a hand in bringing "Rebirth" to fruition by suggesting producers Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall hire "The Creator" director Gareth Edwards. According to Wright, he also advised Edwards to call his agent about the job. "I said, 'Hey, has your agent talked to you about Jurassic World yet?'" remembered the filmmaker. "He goes, 'No, are they doing a new one?' I said, 'You should call your agent.' Literally a week later, he's announced as doing it,"

So, in essence, Wright turned down a blockbuster that made a solid profit but failed to impress critics for a passion project that stumbled during its opening weekend but fared slightly better with critics. Oddly enough, another movie based on an '80s IP, "Predator: Badlands," dominated the box office just ahead of "The Running Man," so perhaps it was just bad timing.