'Jurassic World' film poster
Credit: X/@JurassicWorld
Los Angeles: Two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali is in negotiations to board the cast of the next installment in the Jurassic World franchise.
If the deal goes through, Ali will feature alongside Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Rupert Friend in the movie, which Hollywood studio Universal Pictures has set for theatrical release on July 2, 2025, reported entertainment news outlet Variety.
Gareth Edwards of The Creator fame is attached as a director with the project, after David Leitch's exited the project.
David Koepp, the screenwriter of 1993 original Jurassic Park and its 1997 sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World, will pen the script for the new movie.
The project will mark the beginning of a fresh storyline in the juggernaut series, which has spanned three decades.
The franchise started with Steven Speilberg's Jurassic Park trilogy, which also included Jurassic Park III (2001).
A new trilogy, set 22 years after the events of Jurassic Park, began with 2015's Jurassic World, followed by sequels - Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022).
Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley will produce the new movie through Kennedy-Marshall. Spielberg is executive producing through Amblin Entertainment.
Ali is best known for winning two Oscar trophies for his performances in films such as Moonlight and Green Book. He was most recently seen in Netflix’s apocalyptic thriller Leave the World Behind with Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke.