The Jurassic Park movies are truly iconic, and the franchise has remained a vital part of pop culture in the decades since the 1993 original. Most recently Jurassic World Rebirth hit theaters, and further expanded the franchise. Director Gareth Edwards was behind the camera, and recently shared the story about Steven Spielberg's notes on the new movie... specifically the easter eggs. Let's break it all down.

Rebirth is arguably one of the best Jurassic World movies, and we may have to thank the feedback of Spielberg himself for how it was handled. During an interview shared on ComicBook's TikTok, Edwards revealed that she shared an early cut of the film, saying:

Spielberg and Koepp directed and wrote the original Jurassic Park , which broke new ground with its use of CGI. And it turns out that, despite the respect that Rebirth tried to pay, they originally weren't big fans of all the easter eggs that Gareth Edwards wanted to include.

The OG Jurassic Park (which is streaming now with a Netflix subscription) changed the film world forever. So you can't blame Edwards for wanting to pay respect with his movie. It turns out the easter eggs were their biggest issue with Rebirth, as the filmmaker said:

Gareth Edwards is self-described superfan of the 1993 original, so I understand why he's want to include plenty of references and easter eggs when writing and directing Jurassic World Rebirth. Alas, that's not what the filmmakers who started the franchise wanted to see in their early screening.

So what happened? As Edwards explained, he took them all out and send a new cut to Spielberg, Koepp and whoever else was making the big decisions. As the Rogue One director put it:

Honestly, it sounds like they found the right balance in Rebirth. While we got some delightful connections to the 1993 original, it still brought a brand island, set of of circumstances and characters to the big screen. Currently it's unclear whether or not the studio will green light another sequel.

Gareth Edwards further explained the POV from the original filmmakers, and joked about his penchant for including references to Jurassic Park in Rebirth. In his words:

CinemaBlend's Jurassic World Rebirth review was middling, but audiences seem to be enjoying it more than critics did. The audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is currently 71%, and it's the fourth-highest grossing movie of the year. But whether or not Edwards gets to come back to the director's chair for a second installment remains to be seen.

Jurassic World Rebirth is still in theaters now as part of the 2025 movie release list. While we wait for news about a sequel, many of the franchise's titles can be re-watched on Netflix.

Only a select few filmmakers have had the opportunity to direct one of the Jurassic Park movies, like Steven Spielberg or Colin Trevorrow. The latest to join their ranks is Gareth Edwards, who helmed the newly released Jurassic World Rebirth. Directors can come by gigs in a myriad of ways and, sometimes, that happens by way of sheer luck or happenstance. Edwards has a particularly wild story about what led him to join the Jurassic family and, believe it or not, it involves his girlfriend, as he revealed to CinemaBlend.

Gareth Edwards has directed some massive movies, like the MonsterVerse’s inaugural entry, 2014’s Godzilla and the acclaimed Star Wars spinoff Rogue One. Those credits didn’t make him a shoo-in for the job, though. However, Edwards has long held affection for the Jurassic universe and, as discussed with CinemaBlend’s Hannah Saulic, he channeled that into a four-page analysis of the OG film. Edwards explained that in doing that he was “trying to take the essence of the story and tell it like it was like a thousand years ago.”

The Creator director went on to reveal that his “campfire story” was actually written a day before he received word about the job. It turns out his girlfriend, who knew that he’d written the paper, found out that another Jurassic World movie was being made and swiftly took action:

During that same day, Gareth Edwards heard from his agent, who told him that Universal Pictures and producer Frank Marshall reached out to inquire about him directing. Edwards’ agent originally said he wasn’t interested because, as the director previously revealed, he intended to take a break. However, as you can guess, Edwards dropped “everything” to take on the job, leading his agent to reach back out. So I’d say the moral of the story here is to find a partner who’s got your back!

To say that the director had a massive task before him after signing on the dotted line would be putting it mildly. His goal – and those of his collaborators was to infuse the film with the best elements of the franchise. Returning franchise writer David Koepp even compared the movie to Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film in several respects. Starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali, Rebirth revolves around a covert team who venture to an island to obtain blood samples from dinosaurs for medical purposes. Their expedition is shaken up, however, when they cross paths with a vacationing family and dangerous dinos.

With a strong cast and seasoned crew (which included Ridley Scott collaborator John Mathieson as cinematographer), Gareth Edwards had plenty of help in pulling this all off. Due to their combined efforts, Rebirth was met with positive reactions from viewers who screened it early. This all amounts to the realization of a dream for Edwards, who later told CB that “this is what [he’s] always wanted to do.” I’d say his passion and hard work are what landed him the gig though, of course, his girlfriend deserves her share of credit as well.

Fans can take their own significant others and/or friends and family members to see Jurassic World Rebirth, which is now playing in theaters and is one of the biggest titles on the 2025 movie schedule. The other six films in the series are also available to stream with a Peacock subscription.

There has been a lot of discourse in the last few years regarding ever-growing movie runtimes, specifically regarding major blockbusters. While it used to be that you only tended to see major awards-worthy dramas exceed two hours, it’s perfectly normal today to see your comic book movies at two and a half hours long, if not longer.

All three of director Gareth Edwards' previous major studio releases, Godzilla, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and The Creator, exceed two hours in length. So it seems it was something of a goal for Edwards to bring in the upcoming Jurassic World: Rebirth under two hours in length. He tells io9 that he actually sliced five minutes off the movie just to get it under that cutoff, only to have the studio ask him to put it back. He said…

The official runtime of Jurassic World: Rebirth is listed at two hours and 14 minutes, so it seems likely Edwards’ barely over two-hour cut was sans credits. This means even his version would have crept over two hours in total, but it's still almost surprising the movie was that short. At this point, we basically expect all blockbusters to be longer.

Generally speaking, studio executives are happier when movies are shorter. The shorter a movie is, the more showtimes a theatrical film can have, and thus the more money can be made. That said, five minutes one way or the other probably doesn’t move the needle much, so whatever five minutes got cut out was apparently worthwhile enough that the studio thought the movie was better with it.

It’s unclear exactly which five minutes that Edwards considered removing were saved by the studio. The director reveals there will likely be two or three deleted scenes on the home release of Rebirth that were cut and left out.

The new film is getting a lukewarm response from critics; our own Jurassic World: Rebirth review doesn't find much to love, but the Jurassic Park franchise has never had any trouble making piles of money at the box office, and there’s no reason to believe that’s going to change now. Jurassic World: Dominion had the longest runtime in the franchise at just short of two and a half hours, and it still made a billion dollars. There a pretty good chance the new movie will follow suit, even if it is five minutes longer.

There are a great number of filmmakers who aspired to attribute to some of their favorite big screen franchises – but not to be underestimated in the whole process is the pressure that's involved. Not only are potentially hundreds of millions of dollars being entrusted to their skills, but there is a risky challenge in contributing to a larger legacy and being judged by thousands if not millions of movie-goers. This in mind, I wholly understand director Gareth Edwards' simple relief that he doesn't spend his days being accosted by Star Wars fans accusing him of ruining an important part of their lives with his blockbuster Rogue One.

Next year will mark the tenth anniversary of what is arguably the best prequel in the Star Wars franchise, and while reflecting on the film recently during an interview with our sister site GamesRadar+, Gareth Edwards explained the specific relief he feels about the work. He's undoubtedly happy that people love his movie and even prefer it to the films of the Sequel Trilogy (a point of view he personally disagrees with), but he's also pleased that he made a movie satisfying enough not to ruin anyone's long-held affection for the canon set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Said Edwards,

Gareth Edwards arguably didn't face the same kind of pressure that the filmmakers creating the Sequel Trilogy had to deal with, but he had a tough assignment nonetheless: tell an original story with a bunch of brand new characters and design it not only to link into the existing canon but to perfectly sync up with the iconic opening scene of one of the most iconic movies of all time. Thankfully, the work was ultimately successful, and it even went on to inspire Andor – a prequel to the prequel that is arguably the best Star Wars TV series we've seen.

The reason why Gareth Edwards is particularly happy that he hasn't "ruined" any childhoods is because he understands that perspective himself. While one can cynically label the Star Wars sequels or his upcoming Jurassic Park movie Jurassic World: Rebirth as "franchises" or "IP," that shouldn't undercut the fact that the films that inspired the modern blockbusters were life-changing experiences for people when they first got the opportunity to see them:

Will Jurassic World: Rebirth eventually have the same kind of legacy that Rogue One has in pop culture? We obviously won't know the definitive answer to that question until about a decade from now, but first impressions are about to be made. Starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali, the new installment of the Jurassic Park franchise is arriving in theaters this Wednesday, July 2, and we'll have plenty of coverage of the film coming your way here on CinemaBlend in the coming days.

I don’t think I’d be surprising anyone who knows me by saying that I’m a Jurassic franchise superfan. I’m even someone who enthusiastically enjoyed both of the previous sequels to Jurassic World. But I can agree with everyone that 1993’s Jurassic Park is the high bar of the series, and even when hearing various claims that Jurassic World: Rebirth was a love letter to that very modern classic, I put aside my usual trepidations.

I was wrong to do that, because if this is supposed to be a declaration of love for that original movie, it veers far from the mark. Stop me if you’ve heard this one: the hubris of humanity led to the recreation of dinosaurs, which our species now wants to exploit in the name of profit.

What passes for novelty this time around is Rebirth’s new island location, a remote facility where mutated attractions were being created for the main park. This lost world is now hosting a mercenary team led by Scarlett Johansson’s Zora Bennett, with the goal being to recover genetic samples of the largest dinosaurs. The aim is to create a super drug that benefits cardiac health, and if that was the sole focus of this story, I might have been able to get on board.

That's not what happens, however, as a family unit (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, David Iacono and Audrina Miranda) randomly shipwrecked by some dinosaurs is rescued by the aforementioned mercenary team – an effort to make the tale into something more "blockbuster" worthy. And that is where the greatest irony presented in Jurassic World Rebirth lies, as watching this movie didn't invigorate my dino loving heart; rather, it broke it into 65 million pieces.

Jurassic World Rebirth starts with intriguing ideas, but it never recovers from a baffling turn.

As well-cast as Jurassic World Rebirth’s mercenary mission plotline is, it should be the one and only plot this picture follows. Along with Johansson (a Jurassic superfan herself) are Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, and Mahershala Ali. That sort of roster almost makes you think you’re in for a Wes Anderson adventure, especially with Johansson and Friend being Asteroid City veterans.

I think I honestly would take a modest stop-motion Anderson film over what we have here, with all of the money and effects a mega franchise can buy. And that is what brings me to the heart of my disappointment: writer David Koepp’s script. Returning to the franchise for the first time since 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park, the scribe has given us a story that induces head-scratching.

There is literally a moment where this film finds its characters minutes away from Ile Saint-Hubert, the island at the heart of Rebirth, only to turn around and save the family that’ll give us our merchandising-friendly subplot. It’s a move that’s questioned by all but Zora and Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali) – her traumatized friend who offers her conscience a window to sneak in Jurassic World Rebirth’s unsubtle social messaging.

With past films offering spins on Michael Crichton’s thesis of scientific power being mishandled by humanity's hubris, director Gareth Edwards’ entry focuses on the class inequality inherent with such big pharma fortune seeking. But it never lands its ideas as well as the previous films, which leads to a promising story beat turning into a blunt instrument that beats us over the head.

As for the Jurassic part of this equation, Koepp’s pre-release promise to not change the series canon holds up. However, Rebirth doesn’t feel like a movie that’s interested in even touching the more recent stories at hand, as seen in the decision to wipe out most of the world’s dinosaurs at the start of the film.

If anything, this feels like a partial attempt to execute a Halloween 2018 style sequel in Jurassic World’s universe – selectively side stepping previous developments while eager to include legacy character name drops and callbacks. So I'd check those dino droppings for member berries, as I have a feeling they've poisoned what could have been a fun romp.

When your movie about prehistoric creatures makes it hard to root for the dinosaurs, you’ve got a problem.

For as much complaining as I’ve done about Jurassic World Rebirth’s human characters, I can see the promise that they represent. Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey in particular have fantastic chemistry as the characters that puzzle out the moral dilemma we’re supposed to be invested in. Mahershala Ali is left on the outside looking in, infusing as much personality as he can as an undeveloped figure of conscience. So with lackluster humans, you’d think the dinosaurs would pick the slack, right?

Instead, I am shocked at how dino-avoidant Rebirth actually is, especially with mutant creatures on the table. So much of the hype surrounding the fifth Jurassic sequel has been teasing the Distortus Rex, a dinosaur that’s literally designed with Alien’s Xenomorph and Return of the Jedi’s Rancor in mind. But we barely get to see the beast clearly, despite recent marketing not being very shy with the beast’s face.

As for the rest of our dinosaurs, we get what amounts to a legacy cameo from a T-Rex, bringing to life a long deleted scene from Jurassic Park’s original script. It’s not very long or terribly exciting, and the only benefit I can honestly claim is that we get to see a sleepy Rex roll over like an adorable house cat. That’s not exactly an adventure 32 years in the making.

Yet somehow, with Jurassic World Rebirth’s beasts mostly hiding in the background – save for Dolores, an adorable Aquilops – I still found myself once again rooting for the dinosaurs. The big difference this time out is instead of wanting inGen’s unwanted menagerie to teach us a lesson in why we shouldn’t play God, I wanted them to take me away from the uninteresting human characters.

This is where the Delgado family comes in, as their presence robs Zora Bennett and her team of any substantial development while also giving us an underbaked family unit meant to recall the emotional ride of Lex and Tim in Jurassic Park. It bothers me that the segment of Rebirth’s narrative giving people of color its focus feels like a last minute addition. I do not fault stars Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, Audrina Miranda or David Iacono for their portion of the movie being annoying, especially because I wanted them to work better in the overall structure of the story. Diversity in representation doesn’t only belong to the dinosaurs.

Audrina Miranda notably also has the skills to sell the CGI/puppetry mashup of Dolores as a mini-dino companion worthy of an actual plotline... but alas, Jurassic World Rebirth doesn’t even recognize what it has going for it long enough to really double down, as it flies towards an ending that can’t even decide what it wants to be.

The latest Jurassic World movie is so obsessed with Jurassic Park that it forgets why that first movie worked.

Some of the worst criticisms of nostalgic legacyquels apply to Jurassic World: Rebirth . Acting as a greatest hits compilation of locations, iconography, and visual beats that made for the most memorable Jurassic moments, there’s no heart behind the choices. It’s a movie that asks for “oohs” and “ahhs” without inspiring them to come from an organic or meaningful place.

If you’d asked me before seeing Rebirth if there’s such a thing as too many references to John Williams’ Jurassic Park theme, I may have said “No.” But the underwhelming score from composer Alexandre Desplat has proven me wrong, as the numerous deployments of the iconic tune are all I really remember from this would-be adventure picture’s score.

The greatest failing I think Jurassic World: Rebirth suffers from is an obviously rushed production schedule. I still remember the project being announced out of nowhere last year, barreling down with what seemed like a freight train’s worth of momentum to the finish line this summer. It’s a lesson we should have learned in the past, as 2001’s Jurassic Park III suffered a rushed production that yielded similarly disastrous results. I now feel I need to return to the only other entry I dislike in this canon, if only so I can decide whether I need to apologize for treating it so roughly.

Despite my criticisms, I still believe in the promise of the Jurassic franchise at large. For my own personal scorecard to only have two misfires in a canon of seven films (and two wildly entertaining animated series), that’s not a bad average to have. If there was a little more time and care given to Rebirth, I could see it being the lean and mean jungle adventure it's attempting to resemble.

If there’s a new entry announced tomorrow, I’ll be there without question. I just hope that if the Jurassic universe continues, it takes its time to let an idea worthy of trotting out these massive marvels dawn on its consciousness. But unfortunately for now, I cannot endorse this walk in the park.

Ever since Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012, it’s fair to say the company has given fans a lot more from the galaxy far, far away, and there’s a lot more upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows where that came from. Most would agree the Disney Star Wars era has been a mixed bag, but more and more over the years, fans continue to praise Rogue One: Star Wars Story as one of the greats. But what does director Gareth Edwards think about this?

While the love for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story went from a simmer to a hard boil over the years, especially since Andor Season 2 gave us some top tier Star Wars television, here’s what the movie’s director recently said when Business Insider pointed out his movie frequently being called the best Star Wars movie Disney has put out:

Gareth Edwards didn’t share what he thinks the best Disney Star Wars movie is outside his own, but he did share some interesting thoughts about how he handles the discourse around his movies. As he continued:

Now this is a great way to handle being a major filmmaker. When a movie is coming out, there are so many factors that can make it seem like a failure despite the quality of something. At the end of the day, there have been tons of classics that were either box office failures or critically panned at the time of their release.

Rogue One wasn’t either of those things. It earned $1.06 billion worldwide following its December 2016 release, and earned a very positive 84% score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, Edwards’ 2023 followup, an original science fiction film called The Creator, bombed at the box office with a $104 million worldwide haul and mixed reviews. He also said this:

Regarding Star Wars, Gareth Edwards also said he’s “very happy to move on and do my own thing” outside the franchise, even though he’ll “never stop loving that trilogy.” As his comments continued:

Rogue One is approaching its 10-year anniversary next year, and it appears it’ll be in good shape. Gareth Edwards’ latest movie is the new Jurassic World movie Rebirth starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali. He’s called the movie a return to the Jurassic Park roots. You can see it in theaters on July 2.

Ridley Scott’s fingerprint can be seen on pretty much every great sci-fi movie that has come out since his 1979 space horror film Alien changed the game. Many filmmakers have been influenced by his movies over the years, including Gareth Edwards, whose upcoming Jurassic World: Rebirth is about to make another addition to the Jurassic Park franchise. However, it wasn’t Alien that inspired the new sequel.

Ahead of the premiere of one of the biggest releases on the 2025 movie schedule, Edwards sat down for a chat with SFX Magazine (via ComicBook.com) to discuss his upcoming sci-fi thriller and where he took inspiration from to bring the dinosaur blockbuster to the big screen. During that conversation, the Godzilla and Rogue One director revealed that it was Scott’s 2005 historical drama, Kingdom of Heaven, that inspired him greatly, specifically when it came to the director of photography:

Mahieson, who first worked with Scott on the 2000 Best Picture winner Gladiator, has collaborated with the famed filmmaker multiple times over the years, including most recently with Gladiator II. His work on Kingdom of Heaven, a great movie that somehow flopped at the box office, is honestly some of his best work.

Based on Edwards’ comments, he really wanted to work with the man who gave Kingdom of Heaven such a captivating look and feel, but he had to work with Universal to get the ball rolling, as he revealed:

Luckily, everyone agreed on bringing in Mathieson to serve as the director of photography for Jurassic World: Rebirth. Though it’s unlikely there will be any flashbacks to the new mutated Distortus Rex (which was inspired by Alien) fighting off waves of Crusaders, it will be interesting to see how the two-time Academy Award nominee and prolific music video cinematographer handles the latest dinosaur movie.

With the release of Jurassic World: Rebirth right around the corner in theaters on July 2, 2025, it will be interesting to see what other tidbits of information about the movie and its influences Gareth Edwards and others share with us all. If anything, I'm curious to see what those claims that the movie will honor the series’ canon mean for the big blockbuster.

In the meantime, all six previous Jurassic Park/World movies are streaming with a Peacock subscription. And while Kingdom of Heaven isn’t currently streaming anywhere, it’s worth seeking it out for the epic’s 20th anniversary.

Knowing your audience doesn’t just apply to crafting a 2025 movie schedule blockbuster like this July’s Jurassic World Rebirth. Using that knowledge when it comes to crafting a new chapter in a legacy franchise can also help, as that affinity can lead to some fantastic places. Jurassic Park superfan Scarlett Johansson certainly knows that, as her casting in the sixth sequel to that landmark blockbuster was a dream come true - and even executive producer Steven Spielberg knew it.

Chatting with EW, Rebirth director Gareth Edwards recalled the day where he sat with the OG Jurassic director and others, dreaming up who should play the picture’s lead. Ever the wise shepherd of cinema, and knowing the actress' love of his 1993 classic, Spielberg was reported to arrive at this conclusion, in this story from Edwards:

Clearly Gareth Edwards was also a fan of hiring Scarlett Johansson to play Zora Bennett, the mission specialist leading Jurassic World Rebirth’s journey into danger. And why wouldn’t he be? Even without her love for all things Jurassic, Johansson’s experience as an action lead throughout her Marvel movie arc have given her a formidable resume for stunt driven spectacle.

That thinking has already paid off in Jurassic World Rebirth’s trailer, as we’ve seen the Black Widow lead as a commanding presence with a dry sense of humor. As a fellow fan of these treks involving prehistoric creatures in the wild, I feel like I can say with authority that this is a definitive lead in the history of Jurassic stories.

Amping up the excitement of casting Scarlett Johansson as the lead of a Jurassic World sequel is the fact that it’s been written by Jurassic Park scribe David Koepp. I could imagine her dropping the script onto her table after reading the cover page with his name, still wondering how she got to this point.

I can also see Colin Jost sitting in the living room as she read Rebirth’s T-Rex rafting scene, being startled by Ms. Johansson gasping and half screaming “They did the raft scene!” At least, that’s what I’d probably do if I was in her situation; right down to apologizing to Mr. Jost for the potential good natured arm punches I'd deliver in celebration.

Which is why July 2nd’s release date for Jurassic World Rebirth is something that I’ve excitedly marked down on my own calendar. Especially because Rebirth’s 4DX preview has only sweetened the pot for me to count those days rather eagerly.

It’s been clear for months that joining the Jurassic World franchise has long been a priority for Scarlett Johansson. The actress has spoken about basically begging Steven Spielberg for a role, and now that press is really getting underway for the 2025 movie release, she’s appears to be really gung-ho about supporting the flick. At CinemaCon 2025 (which CinemaBlend live blogged), she appeared onstage next to Director Gareth Edwards and co-star Mahershala Ali, and she definitely dressed the part in khakis and heels. (An homage to Bryce Dallas Howard?) But my favorite part was how fun the team seemed to be having, with Gareth Edwards even roasting the actress over how pricy she is to sign.

If you haven’t caught a look at Johansson going full Jurassic World in khakis yet her look was monochromatic and cool. It felt to me like a nod to something one might wear when they go out in the jungle plus a nod to Bryce Dallas Howard’s monochromatic look in the last World trilogy. Part explorer, part posh, but certainly stunning.

We could talk all day about whether or not it’s appropriate to be running in heels while attempting to evade a dinosaur attack –Bryce Dallas Howard has certainly been asked a lot – but I think heels are fair game on the CinemaCon stage regardless of whether they were an intentional nod to the franchise or not. Meanwhile, the team behind Rebirth really did seem to be having the most fun working together.

Scarlett Johansson told the story she’s been touting ahead of release about always wanting to appear in the dinosaur franchise, but then Gareth Edwards took the piss out of her a little bit and it ended up being one of my favorite moments of the night.

Joking she’d “reach out” pretty much whenever another Jurassic Park sequel would come along, Johansson said she guessed for a while a collaboration between herself and some dinos "wasn’t meant to be.” The director interjected, joking the real reason it took so long to get her to join was:

Johansson ignored the director's mini roast, and explained the real truth, which is that this time she went to Steven Spielberg “directly.” (You can do that when you are an A-lister and also a producer in Hollywood I guess.) She told him she’d be fine even getting “eaten in the first five minutes." To which Edwards said: “Spoiler alert.”

He’s obviously joking about the actress dying in the first five minutes, as I’ve seen the Jurassic World: Rebirth trailer and there are several key moments she will absolutely be a part of. Though I will say I would love some more unexpected deaths from big names in this franchise, which might add a bit more unexpectedness to this longtime franchise.

Regardless, I did enjoy how well all three of the main people involved (minus Jonathan Bailey, who is off filming) seem to get along. And again, I cannot wait to see more looks from Scarlett Johansson as the July 2, 2025 movie gets closer to release. With a little luck, this banter will remain consistent too.

With the 2025 movie schedule packed with massive releases, one title stands out for me: the upcoming Jurassic World Rebirth. And, though the Jurassic Park franchise Universe has long been a towering giant in cinema, let’s face it: while Steven Spielberg’s original remains an untouchable masterpiece and one of the best movies of the '90s, later installments leaned heavily on over-the-top CGI spectacles. Now, director Gareth Edwards is determined to fix that and, as a longtime fan, I’m thrilled about his approach.

It was during an interview with Entertainment Weekly that Gareth Edwards shed light on what’s been "lost" from the franchise and how Rebirth will seek to bring it back closer to Mr. Spielberg’s vision. The Rogue One filmmaker told the outlet:

For the British moviemaker, Jurassic World Rebirth is not just another dino adventure—it’s a return to the primal fear and awe that defined Spielberg’s original film. Unlike recent entries that leaned heavily on green screens and action-packed CGI sequences, the Creator director and his team embraced real-world locations and old-school filmmaking techniques to immerse audiences.

Filmed across Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean, the movie’s backdrop is as wild and unpredictable as its prehistoric stars. Gareth Edwards–who dropped everything to direct–even revealed the hazards of shooting in Thailand’s mangrove swamps, where poisonous snakes and spiders were a real part of the production’s day-to-day.

This “back-to-basics” approach extends to the way Jurassic World Rebirth handles its dinosaurs. While recent films focused on ever-larger and more elaborate hybrids, the End Day director aims to recapture the wonder of seeing these creatures in a grounded way. It’s less about sheer size and spectacle and more about creating moments of tension and awe—something JP fans have longed to see again.

As a die-hard fan of the original, I’m thrilled by this direction. Gareth Edwards is known for delivering weighty, awe-inspiring spectacle in films like 2010's Monsters and the 2014 Godzilla reboot, an hed knows how to make his creatures feel real and imposing. That’s exactly the sense of awe the Jurassic Park franchise has been missing, and he might just be the one to bring it back. Let's hope that's the case.

Mark your calendars for July 2, 2025, because that's when Jurassic World Rebirth stomps its way into theaters, and it's one dino adventure I can’t wait to see on the big screen. While you wait for more news on the franchise's latest installment, the original trilogy of flicks is available to stream with a Max subscription.

The Jurassic franchise has always been about more than just rampaging dinosaurs. It’s the awe, the danger and the fragile relationship between humanity and nature that make the films among some of the best science fiction movies of all time. Gareth Edwards, the director of the seventh installment in the series, the upcoming Jurassic World: Rebirth, is now aiming to return to the iconic film series' roots and, as an OG fan, I'm pumped!

When I heard Edwards, the creative force behind Godzilla and The Creator, dropped everything to helm the next Jurassic flick, I couldn’t help but wonder: could he take us back to the tension-filled roots that made Jurassic Park one of the best movies of the 90s? Turns out, that was his goal. In an interview with Empire, the filmmaker revealed his approach to revitalizing the franchise with the recently wrapped Jurassic World 4. He also delved into how the new installment will nod to Steven Spielberg’s original 1993 film:

This is music to my raptor-loving ears. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been yearning for a return to the suspense, discovery, and emotional weight that defined the OG Jurassic Park. Don’t get me wrong—the spectacle of Jurassic World was jaw-dropping, but that creeping sense of dread when the power goes out in the original park? That’s what truly gets the blood pumping.

The upcoming movie is set five years after Jurassic World Dominion's ending. Rebirth picks up in a world where dinosaurs roam free though, due to the ecosystem, many of the giant creatures are dying. Gareth Edwards, working from a script by original JP writer David Koepp, is bringing back some fan-favorite dinos while introducing new faces—human and prehistoric alike. Scarlett Johansson leads the charge (who has been jockeying for a role in the franchise for years) as Zora Bennett, a former military operative on a high-stakes mission to hunt down crucial dino-DNA. Edwards teased her arc:

Scarlett Johansson’s character already sounds like she’s poised to carry the kind of emotional and narrative weight that the Jurassic Universe legacy characters had. Steven Spielberg’s classic didn’t just serve up jaw-dropping dino spectacle—it introduced a cast of richly developed characters who felt real and grounded in their responses to the madness around them.

That’s what made the mix of humanity and prehistoric chaos so compelling. And let’s be real here: while the Jurassic World trilogy delivered plenty of popcorn-worthy moments, it didn’t quite stick the landing when it came to giving us characters as layered as Dr. Grant, Ellie Sattler or Ian Malcolm. If Rebirth is indeed going back to that storytelling sweet spot, we could be in for a major return to form.

As an OG fan, I couldn’t be more excited for a director with Gareth Edwards’ pedigree to guide the franchise forward. He’s proven he can balance large-scale spectacle with deeply personal stakes. (Rogue One, anyone?)

The promise of more tension-driven set pieces has me hoping we’ll get some edge-of-your-seat sequences that rival the T. rex breakout or the raptors stalking Lex and Tim in the kitchen. You can check out Jurassic World: Rebirth when it finally stomps into theaters and on to the 2025 movie schedule on July 2.

Without George Lucas, there would be no Luke Skywalker, no Death Star, no Boba Fett, no Baby Yoda, and the collection of great movies on Disney+ would look vastly different. However, while Lucas is responsible for creating the massively popular franchise set in a galaxy far, far away, there are a handful of others whose names are listed as director for some of the best Star Wars movies.

With the property being as popular as ever, and a few high-profile upcoming Star Wars movies on the way, we decided to take a step back and look at all of the directors who have helped shape the franchise into what we know it as today. With all three sequels from the “Skywalker Saga” and every released standalone movie included, we’ve put together a rather robust list sorted by release date.

George Lucas, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)

When he sat behind the camera for Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, George Lucas was a talented yet relatively unknown director who only had two credits to his name: THX 1138 and American Graffiti. That would soon change upon the May 1977 release of the franchise starter, which propelled Lucas and the film’s cast into superstardom and made him a household name, a distinction that has remained true for nearly 50 years.

Irvin Kershner, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Though very much involved with the story, production, and everything else surrounding Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas passed on the opportunity to direct the film due to not wanting to relive the stress from the first film, per the New York Times. He took a risk and selected Irvin Kershner, best known for films like The Hoodlum Priest, Up the Sandbox, and S*P*Y*S, and it ultimately paid off and gave us one of the best sequels of all time. However, it wasn’t all pleasant for everyone, as Mark Hamill butted heads with Kershner during his first and only Star Wars movie.

Richard Marquand, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return Of The Jedi (1983)

When it came to closing the Star Wars trilogy, Lucas selected Richard Marquand to direct Return of the Jedi, who beat out names like Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, and David Cronenberg, per Collider. Marquand would close out the first phase of the franchise with a divisive finale that seems to get much more praise as the years go on.

George Lucas, Star Wars: Episode I – Phantom Menace (1999)

When it came time for Star Wars to return to the big screen with the long-awaited prequels, George Lucas returned to the director’s chair 20 years after taking a more behind-the-scenes role with The Empire Strikes Back. The result of his return was 1999’s Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menance, a movie that is not without its shortcomings but also one that gave us the iconic “Duel of the Fates” lightsaber battle.

George Lucas, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones (2002)

The filmmaker stuck around for the second installment in the “Prequel Trilogy” Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. Though fans have started to appreciate the prequels, including the middle chapter, in recent years, this 2002 movie remains a low point for the franchise.

George Lucas, Star Wars: Episode III -  Revenge Of The Sith (2005)

The “Prequel Trilogy” came to an end in 2005 with Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, which was once again directed by Lucas. Conversations surrounding the film’s legacy have gone in every direction in the nearly 20 years since its release, but there’s no denying that Lucas directed the hell out of the Mustafar duel.

Dave Filoni, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

Dave Filoni has gone on to be one of the driving forces behind the brand over the years, and it all started with him directing the 2008 animated movie, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The beloved film, which would lead into the the TV series of the same name, took place not long after the events of Attack of the Clones and further expanded the story of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, while also introducing fan-favorites like Ahsoka Tano.

J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)

In December 2015, three years after Disney acquired Lucasfilm, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens was released into theaters around the world and became a massive box office hit. J.J. Abrams, who became one of the major stakeholders in the property following the acquisition, directed the first live-action Star Wars movie in a decade and kicked off the “Sequel Trilogy” in the process.

Gareth Edwards, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

One year after The Force Awakens made beaucoup money at the box office, Disney released its first anthology film with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Directed by Gareth Edwards, who was hot off of the release of Godzilla two years earlier, told the story of the rebel spies who secured the secret Death Star plans and chronicled the sacrifices they made to save the galaxy.

Rian Johnson, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)

Either the most daring or divisive Star Wars movie depending on who you ask, Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi broke from the status quo and offered a fresh take for the galaxy far, far away. There has been talk of Johnson returning to the franchise at some point in the future, but he has been rather busy the past few years with the Knives Out series, including his upcoming Wake Up Dead Man.

Ron Howard, Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

More than 40 years after working with Lucas in American Graffiti, Ron Howard joined the franchise with 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, replacing Phil Lord and Chris Miller in the process. The movie, which saw Alden Ehrenreich take on the role of a young Han Solo, wasn’t well received and is currently the final Star Wars anthology film. 

J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)

Colin Trevorrow was supposed to direct the final installment of the “Sequel Trilogy,” which at one point had the working title of Duel of the Fates, but J.J. Abrams ultimately returned to wrap up the Skywalker Saga with The Rise of Skywalker. Though the lowest-ranked live-action Star Wars movie on Rotten Tomatoes, TROS still made a ton of cash at the box office, though there hasn’t been a new theatrical release since its December 2019 debut.

Though there aren’t any Star Wars movies on the 2024 movie schedule, there are some promising series set in the galaxy on the 2024 TV calendar that should hold fans’ attention while we wait. 

We’re almost halfway through the 2024 movie schedule, and there are some hits from earlier this year that are still making a splash. Director Adam Wingard’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is one such movie, and the announcement of its home entertainment release date has proven just how excited its studio is about sending this picture into people's houses. 

However, there’s another pretty big reveal that’s intended to celebrate a major anniversary for the MonsterVerse in play as well. And that news is what’s pushed me all in on reuniting with these theatrical Titans yet again. 

When Is Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire Heading To Home Entertainment?

Thanks to a press release from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, we now know that fans will be able to rent or own Godzilla x Kong digitally very soon. Per the information provided, the movie will be released in that form on May 14th. Physical media aficionados who want to continue their MonsterVerse collections will have to wait a little longer though, as the 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD versions will hit shelves a little under a month later, on June 11.

It sounds like that delay will be worth it, however, especially for all of you special features fiends out there. That’s because every variant, minus the DVD version, will include the following selection of additional content: 

• GxK: Day of Reckoning
• Evolution of the Titans: Godzilla Evolved
• Evolution of the Titans: From Lonely God to King
• Into the Hollow Earth: Visualizing Hollow Earth
• Into the Hollow Earth: Monsters of Hollow Earth
• The Battles Royale: A Titanic Fight Among the Pyramids
• The Battles Royale: The Zero Gravity Battle
• The Battles Royale: The Titans Trash Rio
• The Intrepid Director: Adam Wingard: Big Kid
• The Intrepid Director: Adam Wingard: Set Tour
• The Imagination Department
• The Monarch Island Base: Portal to Another World
• The Evolution of Jia: From Orphan to Warrior
• Bernie’s World: Behind the Triple Locked Door
• Commentary by Director Adam Wingard, Visual Effects Supervisor Alessandro Ongaro, Production Designer Tom Hammock and Editor Josh Schaeffer

At first glance, I’d say the features that intrigue me the most are “The Battles Royale” segments, as well as “The Evolution of Jia: From Orphan to Warrior.” The former promises to give us some better looks into creating insane action setpieces, like the Zero-G fight scene in the Hollow Earth. There might even be some insightful commentary on the Rio battle that addresses some of the criticisms of the Titans trashing the town without a care.

Meanwhile, “The Evolution of Jia” sounds like a profile on Kaylee Hottle’s returning Godzilla vs. Kong character. It’s a possibility that holds a particular interest to me, as I previously theorized that Jia was a potential Mothra Twins substitute; thanks to those characters who were seemingly cut from Godzilla vs. Kong. 

Obviously, I’m excited to own the next chapter of the MonsterVerse’s cinematic journey. However, there’s one more announcement that has me even more amped up, as Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment is celebrating a pretty big milestone as part of this campaign.

How Godzilla X Kong’s Home Release Is Celebrating The MonsterVerse’s 10th Anniversary

At the time of this publication, we’re days away from the 10th anniversary of the picture that started it all…again: Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla. With an opening weekend that delivered the massive success the MonsterVerse was built off of, its importance cannot be understated. 

So learning about a new 4K UHD collection of every cinematic entry had my curiosity, as I still need to complete/upgrade my own library with the likes of Kong: Skull Island. That being said, what really grabbed my attention, and put me all in on this box set, were the following details shared in this home entertainment news blast:  

My friends and fellow kaiju enthusiasts, we’ve won. A bonus special features disc, with all of the MonsterVerse directors to date chatting it up, is pretty spectacular. In fact, the only way I think that scenario would be finer is if that talk was moderated by Godzilla Minus One director Takashi Yamazaki. 

While I know we’ve seen Yamazaki and Adam Wingard’s previous Godzilla chat giving some fine insight into both sides of the Godzilla movie spectrum, the greedy part of me wants that dream to become a reality. Regardless of my wish list, having a MonsterVerse collection this well-stocked only proves to me that we monster movie fans are being treated quite well. 

The post-Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire future is uncertain at this point, as there’s still room for deciding what happens next. But seeing how the home release of this film and its predecessors is being handled, I’m confident that the next 10 years have the potential to be just as rewarding. So drink it in, my fellow MonsterVerse fans! Our moment is here, and it's time to celebrate.

For now, you can expect Godzilla x Kong to hit digital storefronts for rental or purchase, starting May 14th; with the physical media releases debuting on June 11th. And though there isn’t a specific date on when to expect a streaming debut for the fifth MonsterVerse chapter, you can be sure that it’ll debut first for those with access to a Max subscription. 

If I asked you to describe what a bird sounds like, or even if I asked you for your best R2-D2 impression, you’d be able to fulfill either of those requests on command. But say that you had to come up with a sound for something that didn’t exist yet? It’s a harder order to fill, which is part of why The Creator’s 2024 Oscar nominees for Best Sound are so good at what they do. 

The other part is being able to take an oddly specific instruction from writer/director Gareth Edwards, and turn it into the unique and awe-inspiring sci-fi movie soundscape that defines the massive USS NOMAD. 

The Notes Gareth Edwards Gave The Creator’s Sound Team For Creating NOMAD’s Laser Sound

During a recent press day celebrating the nominations that director Gareth Edwards’ sci-fi movie racked up for this year’s contest, I had the honor of speaking with Supervising Sound Editors/Sound Designers Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn, as well as Re-Recording Mixer Dean Zupancic. All three men were on hand to discuss just what went into the award-nominated sound work that played a part in giving life to John David Washington and Madeleine Yuna Voyles’ perilous journey. 

A good portion of The Creator’s adventure involves NOMAD, a roving warship that the U.S. military commands, in an effort to combat the A.I. threat they see in the world. Believe it or not, Gareth Edwards approached the sound team as early as six years ago to start developing what the craft would sound like. This was probably fueled by the fact that the Rogue One director was inspired to create this ship after seeing “weird shit” on an Area 51 road trip. 

Using the language of the script was only part of the cocktail that made this very singular sound happen. As Erik Aadahl shared with CinemaBlend, it was Edwards’ specific directions that helped color it all in. Without any visual guidelines to go by, here’s what Aadahl revealed kicked off NOMAD’s sound design process. 

Clearly Gareth Edwards was inspired by what he saw on his pivotal Nevada road trip, as NOMAD’s visual and sonic signatures have already caught on with fans of The Creator. When there are YouTube videos of your movie’s battleship firing up its weapons systems, you can definitely make a claim that you’ve made some sort of a dent on the consciousness. 

Eventually Edwards’ own habit of vocalizing sound effects not only helped define the sounds of NOMAD, but also helped the Academy Award nominated VFX team shape the look of this massive force of destruction. That scope would also encourage the rest of The Creator’s sound team to dig deeper and play with what the audience would hear in a way that actually connected to the very real heart of this epic adventure. 

How NOMAD’s Extended Soundscape Helped Sell The Creator’s Emotional Core

As Supervising Sound Editors/Sound Designer Erik Aadahl mentioned above, the sounds of NOMAD’s lasers were built off of the influences of corrosion and artificiality. But fellow Supervising Sound Editors/Sound Designer Ethan Van der Ryn used the opportunity to discuss how using sound, and sometimes the lack thereof, really tied into a particular moment of The Creator’s third act race for survival.

Joshua (John David Washington) and Alfie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) find themselves bringing the fight to their would-be opponents, as the commandeer a commercial space vehicle from futuristic LAX and dock with NOMAD. Intent on sabotaging this particular war machine, there are moments where it gets explosive and the presence of atmosphere is lost.

In the old days of sci-fi, there wouldn’t be much mind paid to that fact. Once movies like 2009's Star Trek started to pay attention to how the vacuum of space offered unique opportunities to tweak the audience’s ears, all sorts of things were possible. As Ethan Van der Ryn spoke with CinemaBlend, he reflected on how that attention to detail led to some pure sonic storytelling:

Moments both tender and terrifying were seen in The Creator’s first trailer, and that’s actually only part of the entire package that those who hold a Hulu subscription can currently stream for themselves. Neither side of that equation is played as an exercise of showboating, as Gareth Edwards’ vision for this particular story hews towards a more organic near future than something like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story or even his 2014 Godzilla reboot. 

That approach best sums up this final section from Ethan Van der Ryn’s remarks. Though we’ve talked about corrosion, artificiality and lasers that look and sound like they’d give you cancer, it’s the summation below that truly digs to the core of why The Creator is one of the nominees for excellence in sound at this year’s Academy Awards. With that in mind, here’s what Van der Ryn had to say: 

Whether it's inspiring futuristic shock and awe, or tying together the motional beats of The Creator, NOMAD is an impressive centerpiece. As audiences have had a chance to get to know it first hand, all that awaits is the final judgement of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' voting board. We'll find out how this story ends soon enough, as the 96th Academy Awards will air on Sunday, March 10th, only on ABC.

The news that we’re going to be getting yet another Jurassic Park movie wasn’t exactly surprising, we knew the recent Jurassic trilogy wasn't necessarily the last, but the initial announcement of its director, John Wick’s David Leitch, was a bit surprising. Unfortunately, almost as quickly as Leitch’s name came up, he withdrew from the project. His replacement, Godzilla’s Gareth Edwards, is unlikely to leave similarly, as he is a massive Jurassic Park fan.

Speaking with Collider as part of an event for his 2024 Oscar-nominated sci-fi drama The Creator, Edwards said that he wasn’t looking to direct a new project in the short term, and had been starting work on an entirely new idea when the new Jurassic Park movie came his way. He calls the film a “dream” saying this was the one project that would have made him change his plans because he loves the first movie so much. Edwards explained…

As a fan of the original Jurassic Park, which Edwards calls a “masterpiece” he’s very excited to work with people who were involved with that film. And that sort of passion, while it’s certainly not a guarantee the new film will be great, is the sort of thing that can help a project. The desire to make something that lives up to the thing you love can help you give that extra effort, and as a director, motivate everybody else involved in the project to do the same. 

Edwards was 18 years old when the first Jurassic Park came out, so he was probably the perfect age for the blockbuster, one of the best sci-fi movies ever, to have a serious impact on him, and, as it did for many of us around that age, and completely change the way he saw movies up to that point. He doesn’t say Jurassic Park was the movie that made him want to be a filmmaker, but it certainly wouldn’t be a shock if that was the case. 

Beyond the fact that David Koepp is writing a new Jurassic Park movie that Gareth Edwards will direct, nothing is known about the new film, or what is more than likely planned to be a new series of films. Where it will fit in the franchise, and what new or returning characters we will see, is all the mystery. However, we may get answers very soon, as it sounds like there are hopes the new Jurassic Park could be in theaters as early as next year, meaning production could be getting underway very soon. 

Both the visual and sonic landscapes of director Gareth Edwards’ The Creator have been honored in the class of 2024 Oscar nominees, and deservedly so. An organically futuristic picture that feels like a crossroads between Apocalypse Now and Blade Runner, the border between our reality and the fantastical vision that Edwards and his teams have collaborated on is always a bit blurry. 

Nowhere is that proven in one of 2023’s best sci-fi movies more than in the story of how an excitable Gareth’s on-set habits landed him a role as a sound effect in his own movie. 

Gareth Edwards: Director, Writer, Sound Machine

It definitely shouldn’t surprise you that Gareth Edwards is, in fact, a director with golden retriever energy. I was reminded about that when I kicked off an interview celebrating The Creator’s Oscar nominations for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound, with Edwards present alongside visual effects supervisors Jay Cooper, Ian Comely and Andrew Roberts. 

When asking him about whether he’d realized the USS NOMAD was basically the US military’s Death Star, the Rogue One director's immediate retort was priceless. Claiming no knowledge of this Star Wars legend, Gareth asked if it was, “a Star Trek episode, or something?” 

That tone of gleeful banter set the tone for speaking with Edwards and the members of his VFX team present. It opened up our conversation to dance between the serious and the silly, just as easily as the Godzilla director seems to do. That in turn led Gareth Edwards to share with CinemaBlend the following story about his own sound effects prowess: 

A sweeping epic that follows the very human Joshua (John David Washington) trying to protect young android Alfie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) from harm is absolutely gorgeous to look at and listen to. And honestly, using Gareth Edwards’ own on-set noises to compliment the insanely talented work that the folks at ILM put into creating these machines is absolutely fitting. 

Taking a look at how those designs came together, with real human performers being involved in making The Creator’s various robotic denizens a reality, hammers that home. You can see as much through this clip provided by the good folks at ILM, which walks through how Alfie and various other characters found themselves enhanced with digital magic: 

I don’t know about you, but watching that facial surgery clip reminds me of the time VFX Supervisor Jay Cooper admitted to night sweats when recalling that sequence. It takes a strong vision to pull such delights into our world, and Gareth Edwards’ sound effects weren’t only a handy reference on set. As you’re about to learn in the next part of our story, working through the post-production VFX designs were also aided by Gareth and his gift of sound.

How Gareth Edwards’ Impromptu Sound Effects Helped The Creator’s VFX Team In The Moment

The story involving The Creator’s on-set sound effects might not have been told if it wasn’t for one of its Visual Effects Supervisors, Ian Comely. In discussing the absolutely terrifying, yet awe-inspiring laser weapon present on the USS NOMAD, Comely inspired Edwards to go deeper on his on-set sound effects career. 

Which was thanks to this story from Ian, discussing how Gareth Edwards’ enthusiasm helped in the earlier phases of developing the visuals for NOMAD’s weapons system: 

While the self-effacing Edwards claims his overactive inner child as the inspiration for such behavior, I think he can also chalk it up to his passion for making films. It’s really easy to forget that before he opened up the MonsterVerse with 2014's Godzilla or shipped off to a galaxy far, far away, Gareth Edwards struck it big with Monsters. 

A movie he wrote, directed and created the visual effects for, The Creator visionary was almost a one-stop shop when it came to making that first film come to life. Putting that sort of work into a movie takes a special passion, and that’s something that hasn’t waned with Gareth Edwards’ use of a deeper bench of players. 

Selecting a team like Jay Cooper, Andrew Roberts and Ian Comely to help craft this organically futuristic world on display requires just as good of an eye as making the effect yourself. After having the chance to speak to them as a group, it’s safe to say that these VFX wizards are all still nurturing their inner children, which only makes their finished, award nominated work all the more impressive.

As Gareth Edwards' new Jurassic franchise duties see him moving into another exercise in leaving his stamp on an iconic series, The Creator serves as further proof of the strong vision he has when plugging away at something whole cloth. With any luck, Edwards will be able to bring his current team along for the ride, as their works of passionate beauty would definitely suit a world where dinosaurs roam the earth.  

The results certainly speak for themselves, as anyone can step into the sandbox of The Creator, should they choose to. With the film currently available on digital and physical home entertainment formats, you can catch this sci-fi drama at your earliest convenience. But if you have a Hulu subscription, it’s even easier to become part of the fun, as that is the current streaming home for this picture and its audience to connect. 

A new Jurassic era is on the way over at Universal. The question that has been looming in recent weeks concerns which director will helm the next installment. Following John Wick and Bullet Train’s David Leitch leaving the new Jurassic World project early this month, a new director has reportedly been found, and it’s a sweet pick! 

Gareth Edwards, who famously helmed Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, is allegedly in talks to sit in the director’s chair for the new Jurassic World movie, per The Hollywood Reporter. Since I consider the 2016 prequel to A New Hope among the best of the Star Wars movies in order, I’m instantly excited to see what Edwards will do with another franchise as iconic as the Jurassic Park movies are.  

A month ago, it was announced that following the successful release of 2022’s Jurassic World: Dominion wrapping up the trilogy starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, a surprise Jurassic World movie is in the works with Jurassic Park writer David Koepp behind the script. Then David Leitch was attached to be the movie’s director until he reportedly no longer saw eye-to-eye with Universal on its plans for the film. He ultimately exited due to “amicable” creative differences.

Since the studio hopes to get the movie ready for a July 2025 release date, surely Universal has been actively looking for a replacement since. Gareth Edwards is a solid filmmaker, who previously made 2014’s Godzilla prior to Rogue One, as well as last year’s imaginative science fiction movie The Creator. 

While The Creator did not do well financially (which Edwards previously spoke candidly to CinemaBlend), and it wasn’t among the best 2023 movies, I still found it to be an inspired take on a big action film with a unique quality about it we don’t often see in blockbusters. Throughout Edwards’ career, I’ve felt the filmmaker has taken bold swings that are commendable and often rather rewarding for audiences to witness on screen (even if they haven’t always worked). 

Coming out of the Jurassic World trilogy, it definitely feels like the franchise could use a bold swing and a fresh take on the whole concept. There’s so much a movie about dinos existing among humans could explore, and I’m actually more stoked on Gareth Edwards taking the helm than the previous pick for the reasons I’ve stated. Leitch’s trademark is more in regards to incredible stunt work, and I’m OK with the next Jurassic World movie not revolving around another kickass action star, if I’m being honest. The original movie never needed it. 

Universal currently hopes to release the new Jurassic World movie on July 2, 2025. We’ll keep you updated on the upcoming movie here on CinemaBlend. 

Hollywood’s first go-around with Godzilla in 1998 didn’t go well, as the Roland Emmerich-directed movie was critically panned and considered a box office disappointment (though CinemaBlend’s own Rich Knight is among its supporters). In 2014 though, America’s entertainment industry got a second bite at this proverbial apple, and the Godzilla reboot was not only much more well received, it also launched the MonsterVerse franchise. However, director Gareth Edwards, who helmed the reboot, doesn’t his Godzilla movie to be the best of the bunch, but rather the latest cinematic offering from the Toho-owned franchise.

Earlier this month, and following after the double-hitter of Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle and Godzilla: The Planet Eater in 2018 (both of which can be streamed with a Netflix subscription alongside Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters), Japan resumed its output of Godzilla movies with Godzilla Minus One, the 33rd movie hailing strictly from the Japanese corner of the franchise. Edwards sat down with Minus One director and writer Takashi Yamazaki on behalf of Cinema Today, and during their chat, the former shared how the latter’s 2023 movie release is his favorite Godzilla movie, saying (translated via Google Translate):

Gareth Edwards went on to declare that Godzilla Minus One (which was announced in November 2022) will “definitely be named as the best Godzilla movie of all time.” Like any franchise, Godzilla has had its share of ups and downs over the decades ever since the world was introduced to the gigantic, reptilian monstrosity in 1954, and the Reiwa era, which launched in 2016 (12 years after Godzilla: Final Wars’ release) has arguably been a mixed bag. But in Edwards’ opinion, Minus One is both the cream of this particular Godzilla era and #1 on the hierarchy of Godzilla movies. Talk about high praise!

Godzilla Minus One opened on November 3 in Japan, and there were plenty of critics who agreed with Edwards that it made for a compelling watch. The United States’ red carpet premiered happened in Los Angeles on November 10, and the movie will play in roughly 1,000 North American theaters starting on December 1, although there will be various Early Access Fan Event Screenings on November 29. After that, it’s hard to say on which platform one will be stream Minus One, but judging by Edwards’ reaction, whether you watch it on a big screen or small screen, this Godzilla movie will be a treat to watch.

If you’re craving more Godzilla content beyond Minus One, you’d be wise to turn to the MonsterVerse. The TV show Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, which Apple TV+ subscribers can stream, highlights the Titan, and we’ll also see him paired with King Kong again for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which opens April 12 on the 2024 movies schedule. If you’d like to rewatch Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla, that can be accessed with a Max subscription.

Seven years after his last movie, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, came out, director Gareth Edwards returned to the cinematic space in late September with The Creator, the sci-fi movie following humanity at war with artificial intelligence in 2070. In addition to The Creator earning mixed critical reception, this 2023 movie release has also failed to make much of a splash at the box office, pulling in only $64.4 million worldwide at the time of this writing, despite having a reported production budget of $80 million. It’s an underwhelming performance, to be sure, and while appearing on CinemaBlend’s ReelBlend podcast, Edwards gave his blunt reaction to The Creator’s soft box office numbers, as well as addressed the movie’s legacy.

During Edwards’ ReelBlend visit, Jake Hamilton, who was joined by fellow host Kevin McCarthy, brought up how he was disappointed The Creator wasn’t performing better in theaters, but also brought up how many movies that are considered classics today, including It’s a Wonderful Life and John Carpenter’s The Thing, also weren’t box office hits. As such, he asked for Edwards’ thoughts on how his movie’s been doing and its potential “longevity.” After recollecting how various factors, including him contracting COVID-19, resulting in a “strange finish line” for his The Creator journey, the filmmaker said this: 

For those who haven’t seen The Creator, Madeleine Yuan’s Alphie is the AI designed to resemble a young girl who’s capable of remotely controlling technology, and whom John David Washington’s Joshua Taylor ends up befriending rather than killing like he was ordered to do. And speaking of artificial beings in a sci-fi movie, Edwards has cited Blade Runner, the movie about Harrison Ford’s Rick Deckard a group of fugitive Replicants, as one of the chief sources of inspiration for The Creator. That made it especially fitting when he brought up the Ridley Scott-helmed movie later on in the interview, saying:

We’ll just have to wait and see if The Creator’s reputation several decades from now is on the same level as Blade Runner (one of the best sci-fi movies) and It’s a Wonderful Life (which has some great behind-the-scenes facts), but for now, Edwards is understandably just grateful that the final product came together and he was able to deliver it to the world. You can watch the director’s full interview on ReelBlend below:

If you’re looking for more coverage on The Creator, read our exclusives on how that breathtaking LAX sequence came together and how the movie’s innovative camera rig allowed it to shoot in some places crews had never been before, among various other stories. If you’ve made it this far and haven’t seen The Creator, you’re welcome to judge it for yourself at your nearby theater. The movie will also likely become available to stream with a Hulu subscription either by the end of the year or in early 2024.

What do you traditionally think of when someone mentions the concept of a camera meant to shoot sci-fi movies like The Creator? Behind-the-scenes featurettes, and even movies about the film industry, have conditioned us to imagine behemoths that can either sit on guided tracks, or perch upon an operator’s shoulder. However, on The Creator, they were able to expand their coverage by using a camera that's readily available to anyone.

With Gareth Edwards’ return to directing, he and directors of photography Greig Fraser and Oren Soffer developed an innovative rig that allowed the film to shoot in the most unlikely of places. And better still, they used a camera you can get your hands on by heading to your local electronics store, scoring shots like the ones you'll see throughout this write-up.

How The Sony FX3 Became The Camera Of Choice For The Creator

I was pretty amazed to learn this fact during my talk with Fraser and Soffer, to promote the theatrical release of The Creator. My research for our conversation led to the discovery of the Sony FX3, a “prosumer” camera that earned the praise of both men who helped define the movie’s visual language. While the camera is very easily available to the public, it’s the intent behind its use that really separated Edwards’ latest film from the marketplace. 

While Rogue One hugely influenced The Creator’s designs, especially those for the breathtaking LAX Spaceport, it was Gareth Edwards’ first film Monsters that really determined how to land the look and feel of this picture. Oren Soffer made that much clearer as he detailed how Gareth wanted to be able to land a “very tactile, almost documentary quality” similar to his 2010 indie hit. 

Here’s what Soffer had to share with CinemaBlend about the camera behind this blockbuster project: 

A lightweight prosumer camera was exactly what the doctor ordered, as The Creator’s cinematography plan was to shoot then and design the future later. The ability to get into locations that wouldn’t accommodate the standard behemoths that make up the usual camera systems and lighting packages needed for a major motion picture helped in a massive way. 

Someone who was able to further speak to that point was The Creator’s Onset VFX Supervisor, Andrew Roberts. Accompanying those camera crews through various run and gun style shoots, he was on the ground to make sure that the visuals captured on-location would lead to the best templates to reverse engineer a more futuristic environment. Marveling at the Sony FX3’s usage in the field, Andrew told CinemaBlend more about the access this equipment gave its users:

The Sony FX3 has a lot of other advantages that Oren Soffer had mentioned during our discussion, with the light sensitivity being one of the chief advantages the unit has to its credit. Allowing Soffer and fellow director of photography Greig Fraser to “embrace this naturalistic lighting style,” smaller lighting units were easily incorporated to tweak the visual canvas that this epic story of AI and Humanity colliding intended to tell.

The Creator’s Camera System Also Has Its Roots In The Rogue One Experience

Another part of that story comes from The Creator’s cast, which boasts impressive members like John David Washington, Allison Janney, and newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles. As Oren Soffer also highlighted in our interview, Gareth Edwards’ habit of doing long takes with his actors was best suited by using such a small and lightweight camera. 

Size clearly mattered this time out, and as director of photography Greig Fraser mentioned, this was a concern that had stuck with himself and Edwards since their collaboration in the Star Wars galaxy: 

It cannot be stressed enough that the ease of access the Sony FX3 gave The Creator made all of the difference when it came to the finished product. VFX Supervisor Jay Cooper was another party that could speak to the desire to “get the shot” with this amazing bit of kit. Again, this is a camera so simple that anyone could operate it, and if you were going to shoot in a nighttime setting lit only by the moon, you could make it work like a charm.

With the quality of the footage achieving feats that no major traditional rig could achieve, it all fed into the rationale of Jay Cooper and his team that leans on practical elements to create more fantastical settings through VFX. Describing his piece of the puzzle, Cooper applauded Gareth Edwards’ approach to The Creator’s principal photography thusly:

This completed the vision of Gareth Edwards’ call for peace landing in its current theatrical release. 

Storywise, The Creator’s critical reactions are a bit of a split continuum that runs the gamut. At the same time, no one can really argue the visual storytelling that’s at work, thanks to the hard work of the teams under both Oren Soffer and Greig Fraser as well as Jay Cooper and Andrew Roberts.

That’s the sort of beauty that can draw audiences into theaters, or into watching the film when it hits various home entertainment formats. Luckily, the awe-inspiring visuals of The Creator can still be taken in at a theater near you. So if you’re inclined, don’t waste time to book your seats, and transport yourself to a world that was only possible through ingenious thinking, and prosumer magic. 

Gareth Edwards’ first movie since Rogue One may not be another Star Wars movie, but The Creator has some of a galaxy far, far away in its DNA. Not only is it the Rogue One director’s first movie in seven years, it also includes some fun nods to the 2016 movie… that is, if you look hard enough. 

The Creator VFX Supervisor Jay Cooper has a deep history with the Star Wars universe given he’s been with Industrial Light & Magic since 1998 and had a hand in past films all the way back to 2002’s Attack of the Clones. When recently speaking to The Direct about his work on The Creator, he shared that there is a direct connection between the new sci-fi movie and Rogue One. As he shared: 

You may remember K-2SO as the tall and lanky droid that was reprogrammed from being an Imperial security droid to serving the Alliance, voiced by Alan Tudyk. He was the co-pilot for Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor in 2016’s Rogue One. As Cooper shared, K-2SO is somewhere in The Creator, but the VFX supervisor decided to keep the exact location of the cameo close to the vest for now. When you see The Creator on the big screen, hunt around and see if you can find it!

The Rogue One cameo makes sense because the movie is basically riddled with droids and robots given its subject matter. Plus, since Gareth Edwards is the director behind both Rogue One and The Creator, it’s a fun and subtle way to tie the two films together. It’s kind of the perfect easter egg too considering it’s possible K-2SO could make his return in the upcoming second season of Andor after being absent from the first season. 

The Creator is an original science fiction film that was co-written by Gareth Edwards alongside Chris Weitz. The movie takes place in 2055 in an imagined future where artificial intelligence created by the U.S. government detonates a nuclear warhead over Los Angeles, California. After the bombing inspires a war between humans and AI, the movie follows John David Washington’s sergeant Joshua Taylor as he is tasked with locating and destroying a weapon that turns out to be an AI that is modeled after a young girl. 

The Creator has left critics split on the movie, including CinemaBlend’s own The Creator review, where Mike Reyes gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, saying “style definitely wins out over substance” in the film. The Creator is now playing in theaters, and check out what upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows are next up here on CinemaBlend. 

There are popular movie franchises, and then there’s Star Wars. Because generations grew up with the galaxy far far away, there’s a large and very vocal fanbase. And Star Wars fans are known for making their opinions known, sometimes to a fault. Rogue One director was recently asked about all the franchise’s "conjecture”, explaining why he wouldn’t “do anything differently.” Let’s break it all down.

After Disney acquired Lucasfilm, the sequel trilogy was born. But the property also put out a few standalone movies, the first of which was Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The movie was quite the success (it was given a spinoff with the Andor series), but there were rumors about the movie filming reshoots without Edwards. While appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the filmmaker was asked about the ongoing conjecture and discourse about the blockbuster, sharing his thoughts by saying:

Points were made. While chatter surrounding the Star Wars franchise can be loud, Gareth Edwards was ultimately happy with the story he brought to life with Rogue One. The movie was a critical and box office success, and broke new ground for George Lucas’ franchise. And despite whatever happened with reshoots, Rogue One doesn’t get the hate that certain other movies in the galaxy do. 

Edwards’ comments offer a commentary on the film industry as a whole, but especially related to beloved IPs. When reboots or sequels are made that don’t please fans, there’s often chatter online about filmmakers “running their childhood”. Luckily for the Creator filmmaker, Rogue One usually doesn’t get that treatment. In fact, longtime fans of Star Wars loved being able to see Darth Vader at full power in live-action. 

It should be fascinating to see how that same fandom responds to the new trilogy of Star Wars movies that are currently in development. Rather than telling one cohesive story, they’ll function more closely to standalone films like Rogue One. What’s more, they’re each set at very different points in the franchise’s official timeline. 

Gareth Edwards’ The Creator is in theaters now, and the Star Wars franchise is currently streaming in its entirety with a Disney+ subscription. While we wait for the new trilogy, check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.

Watching any footage from The Creator, you can see that it was made with a very specific aesthetic in mind, and that includes everything from the construction of futuristic cities to the appearances of the characters. For example, there is Alphie, the child android at the center of the Lone Wolf And Cub-inspired plot who notably doesn’t have any hair on her head. To get this desired look for the little robot, director Gareth Edwards had to persuade star Madeleine Yuna Voyles to shave her head… though as I learned during a recent interview, he ended up totally regretting the deal he offered.

I sat down with the filmmaker earlier this month during the Los Angeles press day for The Creator, and it actually a pre-interview discussion about shaving one’s head that prompted the first story he told me about the making of his new movie. He explained that he fretted telling his young lead actor that she would have to cut off all her hair, but then he had an idea. Said Edwards,

The good news? The offer was accepted and Madeleine Yuna Voyles shaved her head for the role. The bad news? There was no way she was forgetting the deal, and she regularly reminded him of how he excited she was to cut off all his hair. He eventually got to the point where he tried to bargain with her, but it was fruitless:

There was evidently nothing that Madeleine Yuna Voyles wanted more than to shave the head of the Creator director, and at the end of production, he didn’t end up welching. Not only did she give Gareth Edwards a buzz, but she even temporarily gave him a look straight out of Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. With a smile, Edwards continued,

We can only hope that somebody recorded the whole thing and that the video will be included in the special features of The Creator’s home video release.

Before we look ahead to the 4K UHD and Blu-ray, however, first there is the theatrical release, which is upon us. Starring John David Washington, Alison Janney, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, and Sturgill Simpson, The Creator will be in theaters everywhere this Friday, September 29. Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more from my interview with Gareth Edwards, and check out our 2023 Movie Release Calendar to learn about all of the films still set for release between now and the end of the year.

John David Washington is set to take on A.I. and a weapon strong enough to destroy humanity when The Creator hits theaters on Friday, September 29. The weapon that ex-special forces agent Joshua is tasked with eliminating, however, is an Android child he nicknames Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles), which turns out to be a problem in writer/director Gareth Edwards’ upcoming sci-fi thriller. Critics have seen the movie ahead of its release, and they’re here to share what we should know about The Creator before deciding whether or not to hit up the theater this weekend.

First reactions to the movie seemed mostly positive, with some people who caught early screenings calling The Creator “life-changing” and praising it as one of the best movies of the year. But now that critics have had a chance to expand their thoughts, they are not in agreement about the overall quality of the film. Let’s see what they’re saying: 

Critics Call The Creator’s Plot Half-Baked And Unoriginal 

In CinemaBlend’s review of The Creator, our own Mike Reyes writes that Gareth Edwards doesn’t deliver a story that is either new or impressive. The talents of John David Washington and Madeleine Yuna Voyles are wasted on a plot that is both ham-fisted and half-baked, he says. Reyes rates it 2.5 stars out of 5, concluding: 

Hoai-Tran Bui of Inverse echoes these thoughts and says Gareth Edwards and co-writer Chris Weitz wanted so badly to make an original movie that they ended up recycling ideas from other films and combining them into something less potent. In the critic’s words:  

David Rooney of THR says the film’s message of interspecies harmony is telegraphed with such insistence that it ends up feeling fabricated. Rooney says: 

However, not everybody shared these critics' opinions.

Others Say The Creator Is Thought-Provoking And Timely 

Pete Hammond of Deadline praises 7-year-old newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles for stealing the movie with a performance that would be impressive from an actor of any age. The movie overall is thought-provoking and timely, Hammond says, continuing: 

Brian Truitt of USA TODAY rates The Creator 3.5 stars out of 4, and while he agrees that the co-writers’ influences are obvious, from Star Wars to Apocalypse Now, Gareth Edwards’ film feels “extraordinarily original.” Truitt continues:  

The critics may not be in consensus about how much they enjoyed the movie, but there seem to be plenty of positive things to say about the visual effects, and original or not, The Creator tackles the timely issue of artificial intelligence. So if this movie sounds up your alley, you’ll be able to see it on the big screen starting Friday, September 29. You can also check out our 2023 movie calendar to see what else is coming soon to theaters. 

Over the past few months, audiences have been promised a “motion picture event” with the release of The Creator. A hugely hyped sci-fi epic from co-writer/director Gareth Edwards, this IP-less blockbuster arrives following a summer box office season that saw Oppenheimer as a big win in a franchise-obsessed industry. 

A path has been paved for this sweeping drama starring John David Washington and Madeleine Yuna Voyles to be a surprise at the box office... that is, if audiences can somehow dig into this gorgeous looking future that doesn’t deliver a story that’s either new or impressive. 

The Creator banks on a premise that most audiences will recognize as the central conceit for stories ranging from Lone Wolf and Cub to The Mandalorian: John David Washington’s Joshua is initially on a vengeance driven mission to kill an artificial intelligence-built weapon known as Alpha-O, but he shifts into the "unlikely" role of stalwart protector when he discovers that said weapon is an android child (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) of great power. 

Our hero, initially dismissive of A.I. life, turns into a reluctant ally, even going as far as to bestow his charge with the nickname Alphie. With this child being the potential key to a mystery involving his long lost wife (Gemma Chan), Joshua further softens against the technological entities he once viewed as enemies. The parts to this particular model are definitely sourced from familiar stories of the past – but that alone isn’t the greatest sin that’s perpetrated by The Creator. 

Instead, it’s what’s done (or rather, not done) with all of those components that really sinks the ambitions of this movie. Two traditional pillars of machine-driven fiction fail to come together as a cohesive whole.

The Creator loves a good message, it just can’t seem to figure out which one it loves the most.

At its core, The Creator really wants to be a sci-fi epic that holds a timely message. With dialogue like “We let A.I. out of the box” sprinkled into a movie that very heavily references iconography of the Vietnam War, Gareth Edwards and Chris Weisz’s script splits its thematic eggs into two baskets.

On one hand, we have The Creator that wants to be an anti-war fable that banks on the love of a soldier for a robotic child. Laying it on thick with the anti-AI sentiment, this picture isn’t afraid to show machines being mistreated as the representation of “man’s inhumanity to man.” Meanwhile, the other wolf in the fight is a version of the movie that aspires to play towards the ethics of the creation and usage of AI, with massive billboards asking people to “donate your likeness” for reasons that are far from clear at any point in this story. 

Neither of these messages totally land, as all throughout this adventure neither of these plot lines are woven together with enough energy for us to really be invested. Just as you think you might be sinking into political commentary involving unintentionally adorable suicide bomber bots, or an emotional thread in Joshua’s journey to protect Alphie, the picture clumsily shifts focus to the other track. Or it just blows up another location with the same exact explosion you should expect to see every time the flying American bombing platform known as NOMAD finds its next target. 

An impressive cast, anchored by John David Washington and Madeleine Yuna Voyles, is as wasted as the stunning world they inhabit.

As John David Washington’s Joshua rebels against the commanding officers that brought him back into the fold (Allison Janney & Ralph Ineson), we the audience are supposed to follow the seemingly natural chain that leads Joshua from anti-machine sentiments to paternal feelings towards this child. If we were going by the talents of Washington and Madeleine Yuna Voyles alone, that emotional throughline may have worked out in the long run. 

But the talents of both actors are wasted with a plot that feels simultaneously ham-fisted and half baked. That waste expands to the rest of the ensemble, which also includes the talents of Ken Watanabe and Sturgill Simpson. There are rare moments where The Creator allows the charm of its cast to shine amid the mixed messaging, and in those moments there’s actually a little bit of excitement to be had. 

If it weren't for the clunky and confusing story that The Creator saddles its actors with, those performances could have played much better. That just isn’t allowed in this battlefield, though, as we’re left to puzzle over just which theme we’re supposed to focus on in any given scene. It feels as though there’s a longer version of this movie that makes more sense, or the story was just as confusing in the directions given to the cast as it was on the page. 

Though featuring a gorgeously designed sci-fi universe, The Creator fails to create a consistently entertaining singularity.

If there’s any component to The Creator that you could walk away possibly being satisfied with, it’s the commitment to the look and feel of this version of 2070. Impressive robotic creations and dystopian landscapes are stuffed into the movie as yet another source of stimuli, though at least with the visuals of future Los Angeles, where LAX is now a spaceport that can send you straight to the Moon, the excesses work to enhance the film's worldbuilding.

Style definitely wins out over substance in The Creator. Were the story developed with greater focus and fewer tropes, I could see where the claims of Gareth Edwards’ film being a “motion picture event” came from. The shaggy and undefined structure of the movie we actually get, however, doesn’t come anywhere near those promises, which is the ultimate bummer for a world that looks this sharp.

There are very few filmmakers who have as much experience with massive science-fiction as Gareth Edwards, who we recently interviewed through our partnership with AMC Theatres, where tickets for the movie are on sale. After getting his start on the lower-budget, 2010 creature feature Monsters, Edwards graduated to Hollywood storytelling with the 2014 resuscitation of Godzilla. And that film ended up being so impressive, Lucasfilm came calling with an offer to tackle a Star Wars film. The end result, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, still is considered by many Star Wars fans to be one of the finest movies made in the post-prequel era. Sci-fi fans couldn’t wait to see what he did next. But the wait ended up taking longer than expected. 

Gareth Edwards follows up Rogue One: A Star Wars Story later this month with The Creator, and the film already is generating raves worthy of a Star Wars successor. The film tackles the complicated topic of Artificial Intelligence, and finds John David Washington tracking the development of a weapon that actually looks like a child (played by Madeleine Yuna Voyles). And you can see the influences of Star Wars, Sir Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classics, and even Apocalypse Now. When we got the chance to sit down with Edwards and discuss the creation of The Creator, he opened up about lessons he learned working on Rogue One and Godzilla, and how they affected the upcoming movie. Edwards told us:    

If only it were that easy, everyone would be doing it. Finding that middle ground between the ancient past and the high-tech future can be very difficult, and this is part of the reason why Star Wars continues to split between both in shows like Andor (the distant past) and Ahsoka (the spiritual future). But as we continued to explore his process, Gareth Edwards revealed that the most important lessons he took into The Creator traced back to his first movie, and the “limitations” that came with it. Edwards said:        

That’s exactly what The Creator accomplishes. By filming on location with a streamlined crew, Gareth Edwards tells a timeless story that will appeal to audiences from all generations, and even likely stand the test of time as a sci-fi feature we keep returning to, year after year. The Creator will open in theaters beginning on September 29. Tickets are on sale at AMC Theatres.

Rogue One director Gareth Edwards is adding another sci-fi movie to his filmography, and it may somehow be his biggest one yet, despite being outside the Star Wars universe. The Creator stars John David Washington and more whose characters are in the midst of a fictional war between AI and humanity, and the futuristic adaptation has attracted great reviews from critics calling it "life-changing." The Tenet co-star is no stranger to a spectacle flick, making him a perfect fit for the lead role, but he almost cost himself the lead role by wearing a Star Wars mask to his first meeting with the director.

In an interview with The Wrap, Edwards opened up about his decision to re-enter the sci-fi realm with his latest feature, and talked about what went into casting the lead role. While Washington's acting chops proved he was more than capable of handling such an intense part, their first meeting almost left a sour taste in Edwards’ mouth. He said:

However, once Washington explained how authentically he loved Edwards’ work, and how that influenced his mask decision, the filmmaker and the BlacKkKlansman star went on to enjoy a great first meeting. He continued:

While this was certainly a risk, with Washington initially coming off as a mere fanboy rather than a passionate star with a keen interest in the script, it still ended up paying off. The director and the actor shared a vision for what the movie could be, and the Star Wars element became a sweet part of a shared history. This connection may have even influenced Washington’s decision to work on the film. Edwards had such a great eye when it came to working in the Star Wars Universe, it proved him to be an incredibly capable director in the blockbuster world. 

The fact that they got along so well is also no surprise, in addition to Star Wars, they are drawn to similar material. Movies like Monsters and Godzilla really showed Edward’s prowess when it came to giving high concept ideas the blockbuster approach, not to mention his ability to show off the talents of young actors. Washington’s attraction to movies like Tenet show the actor isn’t one to shy away from a complex script and original ideas. It’s very rare to get a science fiction movie without an established IP, and a movie like The Creator with a strong powerhouse creative team behind it is something really special. 

It's been over 7 years since Edwards has made a film, and hopefully The Creator will be worth the wait. Despite the interest in seeing the filmmaker take on another project within the Star Wars Universe, it seems like the director is interested in other pursuits. He cited the Japanese movie franchise Lone Wolf And Cub as more of an influence for him than The Mandalorian, and certainly doesn’t want to be known to filmgoers as a “Star Wars guy.” Even if Rogue One is a one-off, it’s an excellent addition into the saga, and has many passionate fans including John David Washington.

You can see Washington in The Creator, which hits theaters on September 29th. You can also check out Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One, as it’s currently streaming with a Disney+ subscription. For more information on other films heading to cinemas and streaming this year, make sure to consult our 2023 movie release schedule. 

While there are a lot of very different opinions when it comes to the modern Star Wars universe, there seems to be a strong respect, if not an outright admiration for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Gareth Edwards directed the film, and so one might give him most of the credit for the film, but he says he;’s not the person you should really be thanking, as the credit should go to George Lucas.

Gareth Edwards wasn’t without his issues with Lucasfilm on the set of Rogue One, but he got the movie across the finish line, and it made $1 billion in the process. However, Edwards feels that all the credit belongs to the creator, as he tells Uproxx he was just using the tools that George Lucas created. Edwards explained… 

George Lucas hasn’t been directly involved in the Star Wars projects under Disney but he has had occasion to visit the set and talk with the various filmmakers, and it’s clear they all value his input. In addition to creating Star Wars in general, Edwards likely got some specific tips as well from the creator.

Certainly, everybody who creates a movie or TV show in the world of Star Wars owes George Lucas a great deal. Without him, there would be no galaxy, far, far away and while all of Disney’s Star Wars projects have given us entirely new characters, the fact is they’ve also been dependant on many of those that came before. In the case of Edwards, his iconic Darth Vader scene in Rogue One is something he still gives Lucas all the credit for. He continued… 

 A lot was made of the reshoots that took place as part of Rogue One. While reshoots are standard practice for movies of that scale, those appeared to be more significant than most, but by and large it appears they helped, as the movie was a solid hit. If everybody could play in George Lucas’ sandbox the way Gareth Edwards did, and apparently would again, the fans would all be very happy.  

Edwards is back with his first sci-fi movie in seven years with The Creator. A completely original story, and thus one that Gareth Edwards can take full credit for this time.

Artificial intelligence is a huge topic right now, especially in regards to what its potential capabilities mean for humanity. That makes it the perfect time for Gareth Edwards’ upcoming sci-fri thriller The Creator to hit theaters, with its story about an ex-special forces agent tasked with destroying the A.I. architect behind a weapon powerful enough to end mankind. The movie has screened, and those who were able to see it have taken to social media to share their first reactions. The Creator is garnering all kinds of hype, with one moviegoer calling it “life-changing,” and many saying it’s the best science fiction offering in years.

John David Washington stars as Joshua, a grieving man who must hunt down the Creator and eliminate its weapon. The film also features other impressive names, including Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Ken Watanabe, Allison Janney and more. Our own Eric Eisenberg got an early look at three scenes on IMAX last month, which he called “thrilling,” so let’s see what others have to say. 

Atom tweets that The Creator is epic in every sense of the word and will take your breath away, continuing: 

Brandon Davis of ComicBook.com agrees with the above assessment that this is a must-see in theaters, calling it not just the best sci-fi film in a long time but also the best film of the year. In Davis’ words:  

Many who have seen the film are saying they can see inspiration from other movies, yet Gareth Edwards has still managed to provide a completely unique experience. Critic Rama’s Screen writes of some of the influences felt in the film: 

Joseph Deckelmeier of ScreenRant also thinks this is one of the best movies of the year. It lives up to the hype, he writes, and Madeleine Yuna Voyles may be looking at some Academy Award buzz. In Deckelmeier’s words: 

That critic isn’t the only one singing the praises of Madeleine Yuna Voyles. Kristen Maldonado says she’s a young actor to watch. Maldonado says the movie’s themes are effective, and she was shocked by what she saw in the third act. The critic continues: 

It’s the action, the storytelling and the visual effects that combine to make such a satisfying moviegoing experience, according to Hunter Bolding of That Hashtag Show, who gives The Creator another “must-see” endorsement. Bolding tweets:  

If you are a fan of sci-fi movies or intrigued by the idea of humanity going to war with A.I., I would think these reactions to The Creator’s screening have got you pretty excited. You won’t have to wait too long to see it on the big screen, either, as it’s set for a September 29 release. In the meantime, check out our 2023 movie calendar to see what else is on the docket for the rest of the year. 

While my opinion on the Star Wars franchise has changed throughout the era that’s seen Disney controlling the series, there are certain things I will hold fast to. One of those ever present truths is the fact that director Gareth Edwards’ entry Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is so great, it’s one of my favorite cinematic efforts in the entire canon. You’d think with such a success under his belt that Edwards wouldn’t have taken seven years to make another movie, but that's exactly what he did before returning with his next picture, The Creator.

As it turns out, there was a pretty big reason why the man behind that midquel in a galaxy far, far away sat on the bench for almost a decade; and no it wasn’t a sentence in “director jail.” It’s kind of hard to send someone to that void when they’ve racked up two massive hits in a row; the first being 2014’s Godzilla reboot. Gareth Edwards’ exile was a personal choice tied into a specific desire for his career.  As he told our sibling site SFX, it was about getting back to the basics: 

The story of Gareth Edwards’ career is an exciting one, as he first put himself on the map with his independent hit Monsters. Scoring a sleeper hit while wearing many hats on the 2010 surprise, Edwards eventually saw himself brought into the fold of both the Star Wars universe, as well as the MonsterVerse reboot kicked off with that first Godzilla story.

However, as mentioned in the interview cited above, Edwards found himself wanting to get off of the Hollywood “hamster wheel” after completing his Rogue One duties. One couldn’t blame the man for doing just that, as the complicated history of co-writer Tony Gilroy’s changes to this Star Wars midquel started to become more apparent after the picture’s 2016 release.

Even before that story became clearer, Gareth Edwards dropped out of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which began a hiatus that felt rather similar to a Jedi going into seclusion after Order 66. Seven years later, what we know about The Creator definitely invokes the look and feel that made Rogue One: A Star Wars Story such a breath of fresh air. 

You can also pick up on Edwards getting back to those basics that saw him becoming such a success in the first place. With that in mind, please enjoy the teaser trailer for The Creator, conveniently presented below for your viewing pleasure:

The Creator lets AI out of the cinematic box yet again on September 29th, with a huge IMAX release looking to boost the profile of this next adventure. As for those of you looking for another chance to experience the bittersweet joy that is Rogue One, you should use your Disney+ subscription to do so at your leisure. And may the Force be with you. 

There are a number of different ways that a filmmaker can attempt science-fiction on the big screen. You can green-screen your entire production, and fill the rest in with cutting-edge VFX, a la James Cameron and the world of Pandora for the Avatar films. Others make use of the natural world, but punch it up to make it seem like the future isn’t that far off, like when Arnold Schwarzenegger faced off with The Predator in the midst of the dense jungle. This is the approach that Gareth Edwards is taking for his upcoming sci-fi thriller The Creator, tickets for which are on sale starting today. Though it’s set in a world where A.I. has risen up against humanity, the world still very much looks like ours, and Edwards found amazing locations around our planet to ensure that look was achieved. 

CinemaBlend and AMC Theatres got the opportunity to sit down with Gareth Edwards ahead of tickets going on sale for The Creator, and we spoke about his process heading into his first movie since Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. And he explained how he learned how liberating it can be on a movie to have a reduced budget, because of how creative you get. It forces you to get smaller, to get more intimate, and to make the most use of your resources. And he told us:

The way that Gareth Edwards described it, he was returning to his independent, guerilla-style roots that worked on his first movie, Monsters (which almost got a sequel back in the day). He maneuvered with an incredibly small crew, captured the locations that he needed, then worked with ILM to paint over footage that he’d actually captured to add in the futuristic elements. It’s all pretty clear in the trailer for The Creator, which you can watch here:

Was there one location that surprised him the most? Gareth Edwards explained to us:

We’re very excited to see how all of this plays out when The Creator opens on September 29. We were lucky enough to see some early scenes of the film. It’s one of our most anticipated upcoming 2023 movies, so grab tickets now, and make sure you are ready for The Creator once it arrives!

The summer of 2023 may be coming to an end, but that certainly doesn’t mean that we are done this year seeing large scale blockbusters grace the silver screen. There are plenty of spectacle-driven titles set to be released between September and December, and one of them is now only a month away. The Creator has been stunning us for months now with epic trailers and eye-popping footage – and tonight the film offered up its best sneak peek yet with special IMAX preview events that were hosted around the country.

Over the course of an hour, writer/director Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Godzilla) provided an early look at three separate scenes from his upcoming movie – which centers on a soldier who finds himself in an extreme moral quandary when he becomes the world's most powerful artificial intelligence becomes his ward. The footage provided a special glimpse at the sci-fi action that he’ll be delivering to the big screen, with each of the sequences ending with a nice, big explosion. If you were unable to make it to one of the events yourself this evening, you're in luck, as I’ve broken down everything that was shown for you below:

An Undercover Mission Is Exposed

Taking place toward the beginning of the film, the first scene shown from The Creator opens on a serene beach at dawn in the fictional nation of New Asia – though the serenity doesn’t last long. Slowly a group of figures emerge from the rolling water, and each of them stands out thanks to the flashlight mounted on their guns. As they start to walk to the sand in formation and we hear light radio chatter, it becomes clear that they are some kind of military unit, and far behind them in the sky is a massive ship hovering in space that is casting streams of blue light down to the water. As the mysterious group of characters move, we see that their target is a house.

Inside said house are Joshua (John David Washington) and Maya (Gemma Chan) – a couple that seems blissfully happy as they together admire Maya’s pregnant belly. As they romantically banter, there is a sound of breaking glass and shouting that interrupts them, and they quickly become serious and curious. As Maya observes people outside, we see that Joshua is outfitted with a high tech prosthetic leg and arm.

When Joshua and Maya exit their bedroom to see what the commotion is, they find that it’s not the military personnel we saw coming out of the water, but instead a group of friends (including Ken Watanabe’s character) who have captured an American soldier. There is a consensus among the group that they all must evacuate, and Maya leaves the room thinking that Joshua is going to kill the American… but he doesn’t. As it turns out, Joshua is on some kind of undercover mission, and he is all kinds of angry and concerned that his cover is going to be blown. He insists that one of the key leaders of New Asia – known as Nirmātā (Nepalese for “The Creator”) – is not around.

Concern makes way for real trouble when Maya comes back into the room and overhears what Joshua is saying. Through tears, she admonishes him and pulls out a gun, and they have an emotion-heavy debate about artificial intelligence. She says that she must protect the members of her society, but he refuses to acknowledge them as people and begs her to consider the life of their unborn human child. Joshua is taken by soldiers and Maya runs away to the beach through gunfire, getting on a boat with others. Getting free, Joshua chases after her, but it’s too late; the ship that was floating in space at the beginning of the scene drops a bomb directly down, and the explosion that erupts seems to annihilate everything on the water.

Joshua Meets Alfie

The second scene that was shown picks up a fair amount of time after the first, and Gareth Edwards provided a bit of context. The filmmaker explained that Joshua ends up getting sent back to New Asia on a mission to help find and destroy a weapon that could potentially wipe out humanity, but the reality is that his main priority is finding Maya, who he believes may still be alive.

Joshua is featured as part of a group that is working to get into a high tech lab facility, and while things start off ok – with an access keypad being discovered and a hack initiated – things quickly go sideways as security forces roll in to stop the effort. As members of the team are called to back up others and some are killed, our protagonist is left watching the main door that the mission says to open, and he is the only one around when the aforementioned hack is successful and entry is granted.

Going into the secure area, Joshua finds a large space behind another massive door, and he walks to a platform where a chair is situated in front of a blaring television. With his gun raised, Joshua looks to see who is sitting in the chair, and this is how he meets the artificial intelligence known as Alfie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles). The child-like A.I. briefly looks at the hero and then looks away, and when a woman in a lab coat enters the room, Joshua thinks it’s Maya. It’s actually another woman, who proceeds to shoot at our main character and tell Alfie to utilize a ladder and escape hatch.

Outside, Joshua’s American colleagues try to escape in a futuristic airship, but they end up being killed when it’s discovered that one of the soldiers has been tagged with an explosive that goes boom and kills everyone. Joshua follows Alfie outside, calling Maya’s name in desperation, and once again the ship in the sky makes another devastating appearance. Another missile is launched from the sky and when it hits the ground it causes a massive shockwave that first hits Joshua and then Alfie.

Alfie Saves A Village

Once again jumping ahead, the third IMAX scene shown from The Creator features Joshua and Alfie together in the aftermath of their time in an artificial intelligence village. Forces from the United States have begun to invade, and their might is serious – with massive, building-sized tanks rolling in and crushing houses. Members of the A.I. community try and fight back, but their weapons are essentially useless. Joshua tries to get Alfie to escape with him on a boat, but Alfie evades him and runs back to try and help in the fight against the American military.

In addition to the tanks and military personnel, Colonel Howell (Allison Janney) also begins to employ the use of explosive, trashcan-like suicide robots that are armed and sent charging into populated areas. A first is deployed successfully, sent across a bridge and into a stronghold before blowing up, but a second one doesn’t work as well. Before it can get to its target, Alfie gets in its way and stops it in its tracks. It eventually kneels down, and Alfie puts a hand on it. (It's unclear exactly what he is doing, but you get the sense that Alfie is somehow reprogramming its robotic brethren)

Seeing that the suicide bomber bot is stopped, Howell sends in a human soldier named McBride (Marc Menchaca) to interfere and finish the job. Charging on to the scene, he is able to shoot Alfie, but Joshua jumps in at just the right moment to shoot and then kill McBride and protect the A.I. in his care. When this chaos is settled, the timer on the bomb robot reactivates and continues its countdown to detonation– leading Joshua to try and grab Alfie and run. They sprint away from the fire and concussive force as the third clip, like its two predecessors, ends with an shocking and violent explosion.

While not much was previewed as far as story and character (with the exception of the brief romantic bits between Joshua and Maya), The Creator certainly looks like visual spectacle built on intense and detailed world-building. The action showcased in the footage is thrilling and unique, propelled by cool and creative sci-fi ideas, and the effects work is seamless (not only do the robots look entirely real, but the visual effects on the A.I. characters are remarkable). If the Lone Wolf And Cub-inspired plotting and compelling protagonists can effectively make us deeply care about it all when it comes time to see the full movie, we may be on the verge of seeing one of the best films of 2023.

It will not be long until audiences everywhere get to see the original genre blockbuster, as The Creator will be released in theaters across the country on September 29. Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more about the film, and head over to our 2023 Movie Release Calendar to discover all of the features set to be released between now and the end of the year.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is one of the best installments from the modern era of the Star Wars franchise, and Lucasfilm doubled down on it in the best way with the creation of the Disney+ series Andor. Created by Tony Gilroy, the show is set before the events of Rogue One and centers on Diego Luna's Cassian Andor, and it earned widespread acclaim when it started streaming last fall. One person who has not yet seen it, however, is Rogue One director Gareth Edwards – though to his credit, he’s been rather busy in the last few months.

Edwards explained as much last week when I had the opportunity to interview him at San Diego Comic-Con. Our conversation was primarily about his work on his new movie The Creator – which I learned was heavily inspired by the Japanese film series Lone Wolf And Cub – but I asked him for this thoughts on Andor at the very end. The filmmaker explained that he hasn’t been able to watch the Disney+ series yet because all of his focus has been on his upcoming film. Emphasizing that he has not had the chance to watch anything, let alone the 12-part Star Wars show, Edwards said,

Principal photography for The Creator spanned for almost the full first half of last year, but with a film like the sci-fi epic, the work most definitely stop when the production wraps. As you can tell by the intense trailer for the movie, this is a film that has required a lot of effort on the post-production/VFX front, which explains why Gareth Edwards only just completed it earlier this month.

The Creator, starring John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, Sturgill Simpson, and Allison Janney will be in theaters on September 29 – and while more Andor is on the way, it’s not coming quite as soon. A Season 2 has long been confirmed for the Disney+ series, with the end of the story expected to link up in its finale with the beginning of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, but the episodes aren’t expected to premiere until the second half of next year (and the on-going actors and writers strikes aren’t going to let them come any quicker).

For now, fans can enjoy the critically-acclaimed first 12 episodes of Andor, which is exclusively available to stream for Disney+ subscribers. To learn more about all of the different Star Wars related projects that are in the works, head over to our Upcoming Star Wars Movies And TV guide, and do a deep dive into the franchise’s canon with our Star Wars Movies In Order feature.

Watching the trailer for The Creator, it’s reasonable to be reminded of both The Mandalorian and The Last Of Us. After all, the movie and the two shows all center on protagonists who become reluctant father figures to wards who could potentially change the world/universe. It’s a fair comparison to make when examining the modern pop culture landscape, but the truth is that the roots of the story in the upcoming release go far deeper into film history, as one of writer/director Gareth Edwards’ main sources of inspiration in the making of his sci-fi blockbuster was the beloved Japanese film series Lone Wolf And Cub.

At last week’s San Diego Comic-Con, I had the opportunity to sit down with Edwards to discuss his new movie, and I brought up the similarities between The Creator, The Mandalorian and The Last Of Us. I referenced the dynamic being similar to Lone Wolf And Cub, and the filmmaker explained that those films were front of mind in the making of his fourth feature and that he has been wanting to tell a story like this one for a long time. Said Edwards,

Created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima, Lone Wolf And Cub was originally created as a manga series that was first published in September 1970, and six feature-length adaptations were released between 1972 and 1974 starring Tomisaburo Wakayama as the warrior Ogami Ittō and Tomikawa Akihiro as his young son, Daigoro. In the story, Ogami Ittō is a falsely accused shogun executioner who becomes an assassin and seeks vengeance against those who disgraced him.

The influence of Lone Wolf And Cub on pop culture is widespread, from The Professional to Road To Perdition to Logan and beyond. The Creator is obviously not a direct copy of the classic samurai story, with John David Washington’s Joshua taking care of an artificial intelligence weapon that could potentially end humanity, but the father/child dynamic is the key to it all.

Gareth Edwards has been wanting to make a movie like The Creator for more than two decades, but he added that the film has now come together at a specific and proper time. He’s taking into consideration where he is in his own life emotionally, and used it to fuel his work. He continued,

The filmmaker added that he can relate to Joshua’s plight in The Creator… but his personal circumstances are certainly quite different than what his characters are dealing with. He added,

Starring John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, Sturgill Simpson, Allison Janney, Ralph Ineson and Madeleine Yuna Voyles, The Creator is set to be released on September 29 in theaters everywhere. Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more from my interview with Gareth Edwards, and preview all of the films set to be released in the remaining months of the year with our 2023 Movie Release Calendar.

And for those who find themselves now curious about Lone Wolf And Cub, the Criterion Collection Blu-ray set is now available for half price at Barnes & Noble as part of their biannual Criterion sale.

In John David Washington's film career, his work in worlds of the unknown has always been intriguing. Recently, the actor played around with the laws of time, which resulted in the sci-fi mind bender that was Tenet's ending. Now, in The Creator, the acclaimed actor will be fighting for the fate of humanity against one of its oldest foes: AI. Let’s take a look at what this new 20th Century Studios film has to offer, and when you should expect it to arrive at a theater near you.

The Creator Will Be Released On September 29th, 2023

Originally, The Creator was supposed to be released on October 6th, and under the previous title of True Love. However, as reported by Deadline, out of this year’s CinemaCon, the title to this sci-fi movie was changed and the release date moved to September 29th. 

In its new release date, The Creator faces some interesting competition among the 2023 new movie releases. As the calendar currently stands, the week before will see PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie and The Expendables 4 giving this sci-fi adventure a run for its money. But we’ll see if that continues to be the case, as the release date for The Creator and/or its competition are subject to change.

The Creator Trailer Asks The Question What If The Mandalorian Had To Protect Skynet?

The DNA of director Gareth Edwards’ previous work with Rogue One co-writer Chris Weisz doesn’t just extend to the visuals, but also the story of The Creator. In essence, John David Washintgon’s Joshua is initially sent to take out a big AI weapon with a standard “elite team.” 

It's a mission of the utmost importance, as a decade prior to the film's events, humanity was attacked by an uber-powerful AI it had created, resulting in a nuclear bomb hitting Los Angeles. However, this objective becomes quite complicated, as you’ll see in the trailer below.

As it turns out, that AI Joshua is hunting is a kid (Madeleine Yuna Voyles), and our hero seems to change sides as a result. Cue the visually stunning road trip, and gigantic AI driven battle bots, you see above. Basically, it looks like an episode of The Mandalorian, with Grogu replaced by this mysterious child.

The Creator’s Cast Includes John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, And Allison Janney

John David Washington is only the beginning of the impressive cast for The Creator, as his protagonist Joshua is “hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife,” according to the official press release for the project. Eternals star Gemma Chan will be playing the role of said wife, who presumably appears either in flashbacks or some sort of later film reveal. 

Other members of The Creator cast include Ken Watanabe, who reunites with his Godzilla director Gareth Edwards in this film, as well as country music star/actor Sturgill Simpson and Academy Award winner Allison Janney. In perhaps the most important role of all, “newcomer” Madeleine Yuna Voyles plays a young child in the midst of a fight to save humanity.

Gareth Edwards Is Directing The Creator

As the director and co-writer of The Creator, Gareth Edwards has a pretty exciting pedigree to bring to this project. His directing duties on 2014’s big Godzilla reboot obviously qualify him for helming another larger than life spectacle, without question. However, it’s another credit that seems to stand out when it comes to this project in particular.

Edwards was also the director of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and it shows in both the look and feel of this world’s meshing of organic and robotic components. There are even shots and locations that look like they’d be comfortably included in the film that kickstarted the story we see continued through Disney+’s hit Star Wars series Andor. 

Naturally this is just a teaser for The Creator, so the full story isn’t being revealed just yet. But based on what we have seen so far, this looks to be a promising original sci-fi concept that could become a stealth crowd pleaser. We'll learn more as we make our way to the September 29th release of the film, and whenever new details come along, you can be sure to find them here when they break.

CinemaBlend participates in affiliate programs with various companies. We may earn a commission when you click on or make purchases via links.

No matter how old or new your movie is, a remaster can make everything look a little clearer. The era of 4K UHD re-releases has made this point even brighter than ever, and a new home video cleanup of 2014’s Godzilla is about to embody that very concept. Years of fans complaining that director Gareth Edwards' film was too dark have lead to this moment, as the new 4K re-issue looks absolutely stunning.

We learned the good news from the official Godzilla Twitter feed, as they showed off a neat screenshot from this month’s re-release to the movie that kicked it all off. Though, if you want to be picky, you could mention how the quote provided doesn’t match the moment shown onscreen. But instead of being that person, let’s marvel at the following comparison of this Godzilla scene in its original version, and the brand new 4K revamp:

Side-by-side, it’s amazing to see what Godzilla is going to look like a brand new movie in its 4K UHD debut. While the original iteration of the film wasn’t unwatchable, it was really murky and greyed out during a lot of the action that took place. With a huge portion of Godzilla taking place at night, and a third act that saw a lot of smoke and dimly lit surroundings, a balance needed to be struck between atmosphere and ease of use. It looks like those problems have now been solved, with a new disc being issued just in time to celebrate Godzilla vs. Kong’s candy-colored debut.

However, if you’ll indulge me for a moment, it’s time for that bit of little nitpicking I promised earlier. While the Godzilla Twitter feed quotes Ken Watanabe’s Dr. Ishir? Serizawa and his famous “let them fight” line, the moment shown is a completely different scene. As you can watch below, in its Blu-ray/previously mastered glory, this frame comes from Godzilla’s big business trip to Honolulu, in order to tangle with a M.U.T.O.:

Issues with accuracy aside, Godzilla looks like it’s going to be well worth the double-dip in its 4K UHD Blu-ray release. If you want to get your hands on one for yourself as soon as possible, you should probably pre-order the title, scheduled for release on March 23rd. Though, if you want to wait a little longer, there’s bound to be a special trilogy box in the works for Godzilla vs. Kong’s home video release. We’ll let you fight with yourself over that point in peace, after quickly popping in to say that if you want to watch Godzilla vs. Kong in the comfort of your own home, you should sign up for an HBO Max subscription if you don’t already have one.

In 2014, director Gareth Edwards helped usher in a whole new era for one of cinema’s longest lasting franchises. Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse was born with the release of Godzilla, and the movie instantly attracted a fanbase that loves to watch horrifying kaiju do battle and wreak havoc across the Earth. Recently the director of the film provided fans with an enhanced way of revisiting it, hosting a special watch party on social media, and what came of the online event was multiple fun behind-the-scenes stories and confessions about the making of the blockbuster.

The Twitter-based director’s commentary provided multiple cool insights about the experience creating Godzilla, but below we’ve highlighted the 10 most interesting bits for your reading pleasure:

The Film’s Nuclear Plant Was Actually A Sewage Facility, And It Stunk Horribly

Location scouting is a tricky business. Professionals in the job do their best to satisfy all of the needs of a production… but sometimes the perfect spots come with their own special downsides. This was a lesson learned in a pretty gross way by Gareth Edwards in the making of Godzilla. Early in the film there is a major sequence set in the Janjira Nuclear Power Plant, which is the place where Joe and Sandra Brody (Bryan Cranston and Juliette Binoche) are employed, and it looks pretty damn authentic. What the building actually is, however, is a sewage facility, and according to Edwards it “smelt like shit the whole time.”

There Were Briefings About How Emergency Responders Would Act During A Godzilla Attack

Our world has seen some pretty devastating events occur in the long history of its existence, but one thing we can be thankful for is that we have not yet seen giant monsters rise out of the ocean and destroy cities. As of now, that scenario is entirely fictional. However, the filmmakers and actors had to pretend it was a reality in the making of Godzilla, and according to Gareth Edwards that included attending presentations delivered by real “emergency response people.” The director says it was a surreal experience watching Power Point slides about procedure during a kaiju attack.

Godzilla’s Sound Designer Legitimately Scared Kids To Get Authentic Screaming Sounds

Sound designers have a wide variety of strange tricks up their sleeves in order to get the material they need to make a scene seem perfectly authentic. In the making of Godzilla, though, apparently Erik Aadahl went a more direct route when he needed screaming children for a particular sequence. According to Gareth Edwards, the sound designer decided his best course of action was to dress up as a monster, terrorize unsuspecting kids, and record the result.

Gareth Edwards Admits That Godzilla’s Size Isn’t 100% Consistent

To put it bluntly, the size of Godzilla in Gareth Edward’s film is ridiculous. While the size of the monster in the original film in 1954 was roughly 164 feet tall, the 2014 incarnation stands at a whopping 355 feet… or at least that’s the statistic that exists on paper. The director took the recent watch party as an opportunity to make a confession: “I think we fudged the scale of Godzilla throughout the film.” He takes all of the blame for it personally, so if there are any moments in Godzilla when the kaiju looks shorter or taller than he did in a previous shot, you can direct all criticisms his way.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Ford Is Named After Harrison Ford

When carving out a template for a protagonist in our modern cinematic landscape, “Young Harrison Ford” is a popular way to go. After all, today’s filmmakers are movie fans who grew up watching the adventures of Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and Rick Deckard, so Ford’s face has a tendency to pop up when conjuring the mental definition of “hero.” This directly translated into Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla via Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s character – who you may remember is named Ford. This was evidently a move agreed upon by Edwards and screenwriter Max Borenstein when they were discussing the movie’s lead and agreed that “Young Harrison Ford” was the way to go.”

The Movie Only Finalized The Look Of The Muto At The Last Possible Second

Fans will remember that the primary antagonists in Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla are the MUTO – which is a pretty strange name for a kind monster. This is because it’s not actually a name, but instead an acronym standing for Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism. The movie doesn’t actually provide any official names for the kaiju in the film, which is actually kind of funny when you consider their history from a design perspective. Evidently it was a bit tricky behind the scenes making final decisions about the creatures, as Edwards revealed that the look of the male and female Muto was incredibly challenging, and that he and his team were messing with the design up until the last possible second.

There Is A Very Weird Outtake Featuring Bryan Cranston And Juliette Binoche

Godzilla doesn’t wait very long to hit audiences with an emotional gut punch, as the death of Juluenne Binoche’s Sandra Brody is quite sad. Bryan Cranston’s Joe Brody sends her as part of a team to investigate a nuclear reactor following some strange seismic activity, and the end result is Joe delivering a tearful goodbye to her behind a metal door shortly before needing to abandon her to save his own life. It’s heartbreaking, but Cranston apparently found a way to liven the moment up on set – specifically by doing a take where Joe reveals he set the whole thing up as a birthday surprise gag for Sandra.

A Scene With Dead Miners Had Some Super Gruesome Makeup

“Kill your darlings” is a commonly used expression in Hollywood – particularly in the editing process. Even if something looks super cool, or is awesome in some special way, it can’t make the final cut of a movie if it doesn’t add enough to the bigger picture and/or potentially makes it worse. As Gareth Edwards learned in the making of Godzilla, this very much includes gruesome special effects makeup. The filmmaker identified one of his favorite cut scenes from the blockbuster as an early bit featuring a collection of dead miners in the cave, and illustrated his point with a picture only real horror genre lovers will be able to appreciate.

The One Prop Gareth Edwards Took From Set: Serizawa's Watch

Stealing props from sets is frowned upon, as items that are created specifically for movies can be valued at thousands of dollars simply because of the number of man hours that went into their creation, but at the same time it’s hard to blame anyone involved with a crazy cool production from sneaking off with a memento. Gareth Edwards, for example, was not able to suppress the urge to nab something from the making of Godzilla: the pocket watch carried by Ken Watanabe’s Ishir? Serizawa. In the film, the item previously belonged to Serizawa’s father, who was a scientist who studied Godzilla as part of a secret government department.

Shots In The Opening Credits Were Originally Their Own Scene

The opening credits sequence of Godzilla is pretty badass, as the audience is given a surprisingly thorough look through the history of the titular monster’s time on Earth. According to Gareth Edwards, that wasn’t part of the plan for the project going into production. What turned into opening credits was originally going to be its own scene, featuring nuclear testing in the South Pacific, but the footage was repurposed for the final cut of the movie.

We here on CinemaBlend are following along with all of the various watch parties that have been happening in recent weeks, so stay tuned as we continue to highlight them and pull out the best bits to share with you. And for those of you now feeling the urge to watch Godzilla, the film is available for purchase or rental from digital retailers, and is available on Blu-ray and DVD.

Having the full breadth of knowledge we now do, you could certainly make the case that the best Star Wars movie in the Disney era, the one that best married nostalgia and fan service while telling a new original story, was director Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Since that film’s release though in 2016, we haven’t seen anything new from the director. That’s about to change though because Rogue One’s Gareth Edwards has found his Star Wars follow-up.

Gareth Edwards has been developing several projects since Rogue One: A Star Wars story and he has now lined up a new directorial project at New Regency. According to Variety, Gareth Edwards will write and direct a new untitled science fiction film that will be financed and produced by New Regency with Rogue One co-producer Kiri Hart also serving as producer.

So after his stint in a galaxy far, far away, where will this new project take Gareth Edwards? That remains to be seen because the actual plot of Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One follow-up is a secret, locked up tighter than the Death Star plans, at least for now.

What is known though is that this untitled sci-fi film is an original idea from Gareth Edwards and that it’s said to be a near-future sci-fi story, so rather than ‘a long time ago…,’ it will be ‘a short time from now…’

It may have taken a while for Gareth Edwards to pick his next project after Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, but now that he’s settled on it things look to be moving quickly. Casting is apparently already underway and Gareth Edwards’ untitled science fiction movie is looking to go before cameras by this summer.

It’s hard to judge a project without knowing much about it, but this sounds like a pretty exciting development all around. Tony Gilroy may have taken over as director on Rogue One and handled the reshoots, but Gareth Edwards took it all in stride and his fingerprints are inevitably still on the first and the best Star Wars Story.

Original sci-fi is a precious thing and it’s exciting to hear that we are getting a new, original sci-fi movie from a director that has proven his chops in the genre. Gareth Edwards may be known as a director given his work on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and 2014’s Godzilla, but he is a writer as well.

Gareth Edwards’ feature debut was the critically acclaimed 2010 sci-fi thriller Monsters, which he wrote and directed as well as serving as his own cinematographer and production designer on. So Edwards is at home writing and directing in the science fiction genre and it will be interesting to see what he came up with that had New Regency jump at the chance to make it.

For science fiction fans, you don’t have to wait for Gareth Edwards’ next movie, there’s plenty of anticipated sci-fi arriving in 2020. Check out all the biggest movies coming this year in our 2020 Release Schedule.

Once Disney got the rights to the Star Wars franchise, the House of Mouse started releasing new and exciting projects in quick succession. In addition to the main franchise, Star Wars recently introduced standalone movies, starting with Gareth Edwards' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Rogue One made a ton of money when it hit theaters in 2016, although fans were nervous when reports of extensive reshoots began circulating.

Those reshoots were done largely by Tony Gilroy, who also co-wrote Rogue One. When speaking at a college event, Gilroy recently clarified what he focused on when helming the standalone film's reshoots, saying:

While Tony Gilroy hasn't spoken a ton about the process of shooting Rogue One's reshoots, this latest quote certainly clears things up. It seems that the motley crew of new characters weren't clearly defined, so new footage was needed to ensure that the audience cares for Jyn Erso's group of rebels. And considering how the movie ended, crafting the characters was very important.

Tony Gilroy's comments come from his recent appearance at Montclair State University (via NorthJersey.com), and help illuminate the mysterious reshoots that plagued Rogue One: A Star Wars Story before its highly anticipated release. While the Star Wars franchise is known for its iconography and cultural impact, the movies should still be about the characters-- preferably ones that are fully formed and fleshed out.

Rogue One was set in the time between the prequel trilogy and A New Hope, ultimately ending just moments before George Lucas' iconic first film began. Fans of the franchise could see the writing on the wall, and know that the group was essentially on a suicide squad to get the plans for the original Death Star. That's exactly how it goes down, with audiences left to watch in horror as each of the scrappy rebels fell.

Ultimately, Tony Gilroy's Rogue One reshoots did just that, because the blockbuster took time to highlight each member of the ill-fated crew. While Felicity Jones' Jyn Erso and Diego Luna's Cassian Andor are the clear leads, the rest of the crew get their moments to show both heart and humor. Because of this personal connection the new Star Wars characters, watching them die one by one is an emotional experience.

It's currently unclear if/when Star Wars will continue its standalone films, given the box office failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story. The next installment in the galaxy far, far away is J.J. Abrams' untitled Episode IX, which will arrive on December 20, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your trips to the movies in the New Year.

Spoiler alert for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. If you haven't seen the blockbuster yet, you might want to check out one of our other stories.

It's been less than a week since Star Wars: The Last Jedi arrived in theaters, and it's proving to be one of the most divisive films in the entire franchise. While fans agreed on the inferiority of the prequel trilogy, they seem split as to whether or not Rian Johnson's sequel was a good addition to the property. The community seems to be comparing The Last Jedi to other installments, in particular the dark tone that was also present in Empire Strikes Back. But one scene is also being compared to Rogue One, and by none other than the standalone film's director Gareth Edwards. The Last Jedi's costumer recently opened up about how, when filming a cameo during the battle on Crait, Edwards drew the comparison between the two latest Star Wars releases.

Well, that was awkward. Rogue One and The Last Jedi aren't set in a similar time period, so their costume design should be wholly unique to one another. But Gareth Edwards still saw the similarities. Although to his defense, he no doubt has Rogue One on the brain during his time as an extra on Rian Johnson's film.

This quote comes to us from Last Jedi costume supervisor David Crossman's contribution to the book The Art of Star Wars: The Last Jedi (via Screen Rant). Gareth Edwards apparently found the Battle of Crait quite similar to Rogue One's Battle of Scarif. And aside from the costumes of the rebels, the two do have some similarities. They're both massive ground battles that feature a small group of Rebels attempting to thwart a massive AT-AT assault by the bad guys. The odds are not in the heroes' favor, and it would take some massive sacrifices in order for the Dark Side to ultimately take a loss.

Of course, there are also quite a few reasons why the battles are unique. The weaponry is quite different, as well as the settings themselves. And while Rogue One ended with the Rebels ultimately sacrificing themselves in order to get the plans of the Death Star to Leia, Star Wars: The Last Jedi allowed the small group of Resistance members to escape, thanks to Luke.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is in theaters now, and Solo: A Star Wars Story is currently set to arrive May 25th. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your trips to the movies in the New Year.

Do you ever feel like the world won't give you the respect you deserve? Well cool it, Rodney Dangerfield, because you're not alone. Sometimes the only thing standing between an artist and success is a little extra persistence. Don't believe me? Ask King Arthur: Legend of the Sword composer Daniel Pemberton. The Hollywood musician recently opened up about entering a film contest with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards before either of them became big names in Hollywood, and the story should be enough to inspire anyone out there that feels like he or she has a story to tell. Pemberton explained:

If Daniel Pemberton's recent remarks during a Reddit AMA session don't force you to believe in the power of friendship and hard work, then nothing will. After years of not being taken seriously by people in the entertainment industry, Pemberton and Gareth Edwards decided to take a shot in the dark and enter a film contest to test their mettle. Against all the odds, they ended up winning the competition, and the rest is history. It's not the most typical story of success in the film industry, but it's an inspiring tale nonetheless.

Things seem to have worked out quite well for Daniel Pemberton and Gareth Edwards in the wake of that contest. Edwards went on to direct Godzilla (the first installment in a brand new MonsterVerse) before helming the critically acclaimed Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Pemberton has seen similar success -- going on to compose the music for Steve Jobs, The Man from U.N.C.L.E and now King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Both men appear to be on notable upward swings in their respective careers, and they can trace much of that success back to their persistence in the face of adversity.

Daniel Pemberton and Gareth Edwards have produced some phenomenal work over the last few years, so I think I speak for all of us when I say that I'm very glad that they decided to take a chance. For now, you can catch Pemberton's excellent music in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, which is now in theaters!

Although it was released back in December, we still haven't stopped dissecting and discussing Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Directed by Gareth Edwards, the film successfully bridged the gap between A New Hope and the prequel trilogy, while also proving that a standalone film could make buckets of cash at the box office. Overall, Rogue One was a total triumph, but now it appears that Gareth Edwards does have a major regret about the film. And it's enough to break your heart.

Gareth Edwards recently spoke to The Telegraph about Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It was there that he revealed his big regret: not being able to speak with Carrie Fisher before her untimely death.

Well, isn't that sweet? Let's break down exactly what Gareth Edwards has said.

To start, it's very touching (and a bit surprising) that he believes Rogue One was a love letter to Carrie Fisher. While almost the entire runtime was dedicated to Jyn Erso and her motley crew of rebels, the final moments of the film were a giant payoff for hardcore Star Wars fans. Because in addition to finally seeing Darth Vader in all his murderous glory, the film ended with a CGI recreated Princess Leia receiving the plans to destroy the Death Star. So truly, the film all did build up to a digitally created Carrie Fisher.

It's a shame that Gareth Edwards wasn't able to truly meet Carrie Fisher. After recreating her likeness for Rogue One's ending, it would make sense that Edwards would want to speak with Fisher about his directorial choice. He didn't exactly ask permission, but Fisher had stated she enjoyed the little cameo, so at least there's that.

Honestly, I can't really blame Gareth Edwards for being too intimidated to meet Carrie Fisher when he had the chance. She shaped the adolescence of entire generations, and it's never easy to meet your heroes.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is now available on Demand.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the sort of movie that likes to load itself up on easter eggs, only to slowly reveal everything it's hidden over time. Of course, by the time a film such as this hits home video, there are tons of easter eggs and tidbits that have been revealed, with one or two stragglers still waiting to be uncovered at any given moment. Well now is one of those moments, as director Gareth Edwards has revealed that the holy city of Jedah has been hiding a really big secret. It suffered a major impact millions of years ago, which produced what may well have been the very first Kyber crystals in Star Wars history.

As part of the promotional push for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's Blu-ray and DVD release, Gareth Edwards revealed that the huge city settlement we saw on the holy planet of Jedah was where the history of the Kyber crystals started. Edwards revealed this new truth thusly:

Now we'd already known that Jedah was previously revealed to be the holiest ground a Jedi or any Force enthusiast could visit. Part of the reason is because, thanks to ancient history, the planet is the most bountiful mine of Kyber crystals. With those crystals being a huge part of Jedah's infrastructure, Force sensitive types probably experienced a better connection to The Force proper on Jedah's surface than anywhere else. Even non-Force sensitive persons have been known to feel the effect of the Kyber crystals on their mind, which would only increase Jedah's influence on the universe.

But to have a gigantic Kyber crystal at the center of Jedah's bustling settlement, per what Gareth Edwards told Collider? That could be the biggest source of power in the Star Wars universe. In fact, one could argue that such a huge-sized Kyber crystal could be the origin of The Force, and all of its infinite power, for the entire Star Wars galaxy. This only further plays into the analogy of Coruscant being The Vatican, while Jedah is the holy land of Jerusalem where the religion of The Force was created whole cloth. Of course, as with any good theories, this is possible until proven B.S., at which point we'll be back to the drawing board.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is currently available on Digital HD, with the Blu-Ray / DVD release slated for April 4th.

While Rogue One: A Star Wars Story introduced us to a cavalcade of new heroes that instantly charmed and enthralled us (especially that robotic rapscallion K-2SO), it was the appearance of Darth Vader in full-on baddie mode right at the end of the film that really had audiences out of their seats and whooping with delight. As a full-on Star Wars die-hard getting the chance to direct a scene featuring Darth Vader was always going to be an exhilarating experience for Gareth Edwards. But it turns out that there were some unexpected complications. Mainly because once Spencer Wilding or Daniel Naprous put on Darth Vader's helmet they immediately stopped being Spencer Wilding and Daniel Naprous and were suddenly Darth Vader in all of his terrifying glory. In fact Gareth Edwards recently revealed in a Reddit AMA that directing Darth Vader was more difficult than it would seem:

Gareth Edward's response is a little bit surprising, considering he has helmed movies with iconic characters before. (See: Godzilla.) Regardless, A guy in an iconic costume is clearly scarier than a CGI rendering, at least on the set. And Darth Vader, as Edward's notes, is "God." He is one of the most important characters in the history of film. It is a little intimidating to think about.

Thankfully, Gareth Edwards was able to quickly get over this early onset of nerves, as he oversaw one of the most spell-binding sequences in Rogue One, which saw arguably cinema's most famous villain ripping through Rebel soldiers with his lightsaber as he looked to retrieve the schematics of the Death Star. He failed. Princess Leia got them, and thus Rogue One was perfectly able to feed into A New Hope. With all of the reshoots that surrounded Rogue One, which reportedly included Tony Gilroy coming on-board to help retool the conclusion alongside Gareth Edwards as it originally wasn't coming together as intended, it's actually hard to know who to fully thank for Darth Vader's brutality in Rogue One.

Those of you wanting to relive the sequence in all of its glory will be able to do so in the comfort of your own home very, very soon. You can get yourself plenty excited for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's home release by watching its trailer below.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will be released on Digital HD on March 24, and it will be available on Blu-ray and DVD starting on April 4. You can take a look at Gareth Edwards' full AMA, as well.

Each time a new Star Wars movie is released, you're guaranteed at least one new planet. After all, that galaxy far, far away is full of colorful and unique worlds, and it get would boring quickly if we spent all our time on just a few of these locations. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story did its part by introducing five new worlds: Wobani, Lah'mu, Eadu, Jedha and Scarif. That last planet was one of the more important ones, as it's where the final conflict took place. So how was the name Scarif created? It turns out the inspiration came from someone misunderstanding director Gareth Edwards' name at a coffee shop.

During his appearance at SXSW this past weekend (via THR), Gareth Edwards shared a few stories about the making of Rogue One, from how Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson stopped by the set to where the idea for the movie's ending came from. In the case of Scarif, that planet earned its name when Gareth's name was misspelled on a coffee cup. As Edwards put it:

That's not exactly the conventional way one goes about brainstorming the name of a world for fiction, but hey, whatever works! I can understand how if Gareth Edwards was at a Starbucks or whatever coffee shop it was at a particularly loud time of day, 'Gareth" could have sounded like "Scarif"...even though I'm almost positive you won't find Scarif in any baby name book. So to you, nameless barista, we thank you for accidentally providing the name of one of the more notable worlds in the Star Wars universe. If you hadn't misheard Gareth's name, who knows what it would have been called?

Scarif is one of the more scenic Star Wars worlds, but in Rogue One, it was anything but a vacation destination. The Empire was using the tropical planet as a site for keeping top-secret information and research safe, including the Death Star plans. The main military installation was well guarded, but as an added measure, the planet was surrounded by a deflector shield that only had one opening, the Shield Gate. Despite such protection, Jyn Erso and a team of Rebels managed to sneak onto the planet while a Rebel fleet kept the Imperial forces occupied in space. The endgame was obtaining a copy of the Death Star plans, and in the end, the good guys were successful, though it came with great sacrifice.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has nearly concluded its theatrical run, and will be available on home media starting with the Digital HD release on March 24 and later with the Blu-ray/DVD release on April 4.

Before we know it Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will have been out for a month. But despite this, fans and the Star Wars community haven't stopped dissecting and discussing every frame from the first standalone film in the franchise. While the reception for Gareth Edward's galactic war story has been universally well received, there are a few points of contention for the movie. One of which is the various exciting shots that were seen throughout the trailer and marketing campaign that never made it into the final film. This happened with The Force Awakens too, although we now may have an explanation for some of those mystery shots.

Gareth Edwards recently sat down for an episode of the podcast The Director's Cut. When asked about the missing footage, he revealed that while filming, the cast and crew would do "Indie Hour", in which they could play around and let off steam. This is apparently where some of the trailer shots, including the one of Jyn in disguise, came about. He said the following (via Uproxx),

Well, this certainly makes sense. There was a plethora of extra shots due to "Indie Hour", which explains why they never made it into the film. Some of these shots were never meant to be on the silver screen, but the cool ones did serve a function through the trailers. Waste not, want not.

Like The Force Awakens, many Star Wars fans were disappointed when cool shots from Rogue One's trailer didn't make it into the film. Because Star Wars movies keep their footage so safe guarded, fans tend to memorize every moment from the scarce few trailers that are released. As such, they expect these moments to all pay off at the theaters, which isn't always the case.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is still raking in tons of money in the theaters.

Spoiler warning: The ending of Rogue One will be spoiled here, but you have to know what happens by now, right?

Sometimes directors like to put themselves into their own movies- usually as quick blink and you miss it cameos for the cinephiles to enjoy. Alfred Hitchcock and Peter Jackson are just some examples, but if you're directing a Star Wars, then how can you not give yourself a cameo? Gareth Edwards sure as hell couldn't resist, and while shooting Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, he did a cameo that actually turns out to be an important role. One sharp-eyed fan spotted the director in one of the most pivotal scenes in the entire movie. Check it out.

During Star Wars Celebration Europe 2016, it was revealed that Gareth Edwards would have a cameo in Rogue One, but the specifics of said cameo were for the fans to figure out. Now that the movie has released in theaters, a fan has found Edwards in the film and shared his finding on Twitter. Though it's a little murky, the director can be seen right there in center foreground dressed as a Rebel officer of Princess Leia's ship- seen in the ending of Rogue One and the beginning of A New Hope. And he isn't just any old Rebel soldier either; this is the guy who disengages the ship, cutting Darth Vader off and allowing Leia to escape with the Death Star plans at the end.

At least that's what this Twitter user says. All I can remember from that scene begins and ends with Darth Vader.

Assuming that Gareth Edwards is the same soldier, then that means the director basically gave himself arguably the most important unnamed role in all of Star Wars. He may have just played the guy whose quick thinking and sacrifice allowed for basically the entire plot of A New Hope. He's even more important than the Imperial officer who says "nah, let's not shoot down that escape pod." And what does he get for his reward? Vader wrecks him.

Funnily enough, Gareth Edwards isn't the only Star Wars director with a cameo in the film. Rian Johnson, the director of Star Wars: Episode VIII, also briefly appears in the film, but it's almost impossible to tell it's him. Johnson's cameo was also revealed at Star Wars Celebration 2016, and apparently he and his assistant played the two Death Star troopers who work the laser of the Death Star that fires right behind them. Essentially, one director helps save the galaxy while the other helps blow up planets, both of which would make an inner child happy.

Rogue One is still in theaters, which means you still have a chance to catch these cameos if you pay close enough attention.

As we have talked about many times since Rogue One: A Star Wars Story came out last month, there is a bit of incongruity between the finished cut of the film and its marketing materials. Specifically, there are a few amazing shots that are featured in the previews, but not actually included in the actual movie. "Reshoots" has been the main explanation for this thus far, but now director Gareth Edwards has revealed the full answer. According to him, the situation happened because the marketing teams just fell in love with certain footage - and while the filmmakers knew certain scenes weren't actually going to be included in the finished picture, they still felt it was fair to promote because they still sold "the spirit" of the blockbuster.

Empire got the scoop from the director in a recent interview, talking to the filmmaker about the now semi-notorious missing footage. Asked to explain the occasional disconnects between Rogue One's trailers and finished cut, Gareth Edwards admitted that they knew certain sequences weren't going to be in the movie before the trailers were released, but also offered up an explanation for why they felt that was okay for them to do. Said Edwards,

He's not really wrong, as the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story trailers did legitimately sell the movie that audiences wound paying for tickets to see... but what we still really want to know is what the hell happened to all of the missing material, and whether or not we will ever actually get to see it in any kind of context. What was the ultimate conclusion of Jyn Erso's showdown with the TIE Fighter?

How was Saw Gerrera's "What will you do when they catch you? What will you do if they break you?" speech going to fit into the narrative? Were there going to be more flashbacks?

And what did we miss out on with Director Krennic not being on the ground during the Battle of Scarif?

That expose regarding the movie that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was originally going to be is still waiting to be broken.

How do you feel about this? Do you think that Gareth Edwards and the other folks at Disney/Lucasfilm were right in selling Rogue One: A Star Wars Story footage that didn't wind up in the movie, or did you feel misled when those big moments didn't wind up happening in the film? Hit the comments section below with your thoughts.

It's hard to believe that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has already been in theaters for three weeks. The first standalone film in the Star Wars franchise carried a ton of weight, as it attempted to bring back characters that we haven't seen in quite some time. And no character was at hotly anticipated as Darth Vader himself, who stole a handful of scenes in Rogue One. Part of why fans enjoyed Vader in the film so much was because he was a bad guy again. Any trace of Hayden Christiansen's whiney Anakin Skywalker was gone, and we got the badass villain we know and love from the originals. Well, it turns out that Vader's vulnerability did make it into the film, courtesy of director Gareth Edwards.

Gareth Edwards recently sat down with Empire Magazine about all things Rogue One. Eventually, Darth Vader's scenes were brought up, and it was revealed that Gareth Edwards included his first scene in the bacta tank to remind the audience how damaged and human Vader really is.

Pretty awesome, right? Darth Vader is one of the most intriguing characters in cinema, and as such he needed to be approached delicately. And Gareth Edwards did just that.

Seeing Darth Vader in his bacta tank was a very surprising reintroduction to the character. Vader remained mysterious in the original trilogy, so we didn't get to see a ton of what his life was, outside of causing havoc and looking awesome. But we do know how badly Vader's body (or what's left of it) was burned after his final battle with Obi-Wan. Seeing how seemingly weak the Sith Lord actually is was shocking, and instantly had the audience captivated.

Gareth Edwards also succeeded in not giving Darth Vader too much humanity. He's a bonafide villain at the point Rogue One is set, so fans wanted to see him be a badass. And they weren't disappointed.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is currently in theaters now, complete with Darth Vader himself.

Few things go together quite like the holidays and the movies. Once the presents have been opened, you pile into the car to go check out the latest winter blockbuster. It's tradition that any self-respecting cinephile is familiar with, and it now seems the tradition is alive and well this year. In fact, new reports are now confirming that Gareth Edwards' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is still making an absolute killing at the box office just in time for the holidays.

The box office numbers continue to roll in, and THR reports that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hasn't come close to faltering at the box office yet. The first standalone Star Wars movie has experienced a strong second weekend in theaters, and it's expected to close out the holiday with a Friday-Monday gross of roughly $110 million -- with $23 million of that gross coming from Friday showings. The film surged beyond the $400 million mark globally over the weekend, thus solidifying Rogue One's place as an absolute box office phenomenon.

The financial success of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is even more impressive when we consider its reduced connection to the primary Star Wars franchise. Despite the fact that fan-favorites like Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia don't appear in the movie, Rogue One has still managed to resonate with audiences on a profound level. If nothing else, this seems like a wonderful indication that other standalone Star Wars movies will continue to thrive without the central narrative there to support them. Can we please have the Han Solo movie now, Lucasfilm?

Of course, we should still note that Rogue One isn't expected to put up The Force Awakens numbers. The J.J. Abrams film had the added advantage of being the first Star Wars movie to hit theaters in a decade, as well as the aforementioned benefit of bringing iconic characters back into the fray, which certainly gave it a box office boost. That being said, we don't think anyone at Disney or Lucasfilm is complaining; someone is going to get a Christmas bonus this year.

Rogue One's box office strength is even more notable when compared to the competition it went up against over the weekend. Hopes were high for Assassins Creed, Passengers, Why Him?, and Sing, but the Star Wars film has held strong in the face of a crowded box office slate. Among all of the competitors, Sing gave the best performance by drawing in a $75 million six-day gross, while the rest have more or less financially and critically underperformed.

CinemaBlend will bring you any and all relevant updates related to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as more information is made available to us. The first standalone Star Wars film is currently in theaters, but based on the box office numbers you probably already know that. The Star Wars universe will continue to expand when Episode VIII hits theaters next year on December 15, 2017.