The race to claim the director's chair on the next Jurassic World installment has a new frontrunner, and his name carries serious blockbuster pedigree. J.A. Bayona has emerged as the leading candidate to helm the eighth film in Universal's Jurassic franchise, according to industry tracking that has put the Spanish filmmaker at the top of the studio's shortlist. Bayona is no stranger to the property: he directed 2018's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the second chapter in the Chris Pratt-led trilogy that went on to gross more than a billion dollars worldwide.
The untitled sequel is set to shoot in 2027, with plot details still under wraps. The film is described as the eighth installment in the Jurassic franchise, a series that began with Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park in 1993 and was revived in 2015 with Jurassic World. Bayona's return would mark a homecoming of sorts, placing him back in a sandbox he helped expand during the Colin Trevorrow-produced run.
A Cast Built for Scale
Whoever signs on to direct will inherit one of the more intriguing ensembles assembled for a tentpole in recent memory. Scarlett Johansson is set to star as Zora Bennett, with Mahershala Ali aboard as Duncan Kincaid and Jonathan Bailey playing Dr. Henry Loomis. Johansson's involvement alone signals the studio's intent to keep the franchise at the center of the global marketplace; she remains one of the few performers whose name can open a film on every continent. Ali brings a two-time Academy Award-winning dramatic weight to the proceedings, while Bailey arrives hot off his breakout turn in the cultural phenomenon that was Wicked and his role in Bridgerton.
The combination suggests a film aiming for something closer to the globe-trotting espionage thrillers of the 1970s than a straightforward creature feature - though with dinosaurs, the creature feature elements are non-negotiable.
Why Bayona Makes Sense
Bayona's filmography reads like a director's case for franchise stewardship. Before Fallen Kingdom, he delivered the harrowing tsunami drama The Impossible and the gothic horror fable A Monster Calls. After Fallen Kingdom, he pivoted to streaming prestige with Society of the Snow, a survival drama that earned an Academy Award nomination for Best International Feature and cemented his reputation as a filmmaker who can balance large-scale spectacle with intimate, character-driven tension. That skill set is precisely what a Jurassic film needs. The franchise's enduring appeal rests on the awe of its dinosaurs, but its best moments - the Indominus Rex reveal in Jurassic World, the shipwreck sequence in Fallen Kingdom - work because the human stakes feel immediate.
Universal has yet to confirm Bayona's deal, and the studio declined to comment on the shortlist. But the timing tracks with the production calendar: a 2027 shoot means cameras would roll approximately five years after Jurassic World Dominion closed out the previous trilogy in 2022. That gap is short by franchise standards, suggesting Universal views the property as a permanent fixture rather than a cyclical one.
What the Eighth Film Faces
The new installment arrives at a moment when legacy franchises are under unusual pressure. Dominion, while commercially successful, drew mixed reviews and prompted questions about whether the series had exhausted its nostalgia-driven premise. The solution, apparently, is a soft reset: fresh characters, a new creative team, and no apparent obligation to carry forward the stories of Owen Grady or Claire Dearing. Johansson, Ali, and Bailey represent a clean break, and Bayona - should he close his deal - offers continuity of craft without continuity of story.
It also positions the franchise within a broader studio strategy of pairing A-list actors with established intellectual property. Johansson has spent the post-Marvel phase of her career making bold choices, from Wes Anderson's Asteroid City to her producing work. If she anchors this film, it will be her first true franchise-leading role outside the Marvel Cinematic Universe - a significant test of whether star power still moves the needle on a property that has its own built-in audience.
The film remains early in development, with no release date set and a TMDb rating still sitting at zero - as expected for a project that has not yet begun production. But the signals are clear. Universal wants a director with proven genre instincts, a cast with genuine dramatic credibility, and a production timeline that keeps the dinosaurs on screens before the decade turns.
If Bayona signs, he will become the first filmmaker to direct two Jurassic films since Spielberg himself helmed the original and its 1997 sequel, The Lost World. That bit of trivia may not matter to audiences, but it matters to the industry: it signals that Universal trusts Bayona to shepherd the franchise into its next era, whatever that era looks like. Plot details, cast confirmations, and a release date are expected to follow as the project moves toward its 2027 start.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter