Filmmaker Gareth Edwards gained recognition with 2010’s Monsters in which he not only served as the writer-director but also the cinematographer and visual effects artist. Monsters received a positive response upon its release and was followed by Edwards directing 2014’s Godzilla, and 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
The filmmaker returned to making original films with 2023’s The Creator. The story is set in 2070, 15 years after the AI has set off a nuclear detonation in Los Angeles starting a war between humans and AI. An ex-special force is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator of the weapon to end the power. The movie received a positive response from the audience and critics and Gareth Edwards’ visual effects were highly lauded making him a perfect choice for the upcoming Jurassic World.
Gareth Edwards excited to direct Jurassic World 4
During an FYC event for The Creator, filmmaker Gareth Edwards spoke to Collider’s Steve Weintraub and shared his excitement about directing the upcoming Jurassic World. He mentioned that director Steven Spielberg is one of the reasons why he wanted to be a film director and when the opportunity for him to direct a movie in a franchise that has Spielberg’s name on it, he just jumped on it. He added,
“I was about to take a break and I started writing my next idea for a film and this is the only movie that would make me drop everything like a stone and dive right in. I love Jurassic Park.”
He continued,
“I think the first movie is a cinematic masterpiece…so this opportunity is like a dream to me. And to work with Frank Marshall and Universal and David Koepp, who’s writing the script. I think they’re all legends. So I’m just excited.”
Gareth Edwards is the second director to be associated with the new Jurassic World movie after David Leitch. Steven Spielberg is set to produce the movie through the Amblin Entertainment banner. The reports have suggested that no stars from either Jurassic Park or Jurassic World are set to return for the new sequel.
Gareth Edwards’ one trick from The Creator people expect to see in Jurassic World 4
According to the reports from The Hollywood Reporter, Edwards while filming The Creator traveled to Northern California and used Industrial Light & Magic to bring life to his movie and especially the character of Alphie with VFX. He explained that the VFX professionals at Industrial Light & Magic used the rough footage from the movie and helped him in creating a $80 million-looking movie that looks like a $200 million budgeted movie.
The filmmaker had shared in an interview with Looper that he took every little trick he learned on Rouge One and applied for The Creator for example he filmed a great chunk of the movie on location instead of filming in front of LED panels and green screens. He chose the locations with the VFX in mind knowing that the anchoring shots in real locations would give more tactile quality to the film.
In his interview with THR visual effects supervisor Jay Cooper dwelled upon Alphie’s look who was 7 years old at the time and appeared in about 400 shots.
“We only had a few tracking markers on her face, which makes the work that much more difficult. We need to connect the skin from the throat down into the clothing, and the suddenly they’re more lovable. And that probably made everything twice as difficult.”
Even though it had been a tedious process for the VFX team to give the movie the look Gareth Edwards envisioned, the crew stated that the hard work they had put in for the movie just elevates their work. VFX supervisor Andrew Roberts spent months shooting high dynamic range images. These images were given to the VFX team to work on the project in postproduction.
The audience has appreciated the extra effort or trick by Gareth Edwards for bringing a more tactile feel to the movie. They also believe that if the director continues with his efforts and tricks for Jurassic World 4, he’d probably be known as the perfect choice for the director. Jurassic World is scheduled for July 25th, 2025 release.
The Creator is now streaming on Hulu.
