New ‘Jurassic World’ Movie Lands Rupert Friend in Starring Role (Exclusive)

Rupert Friend

Daniele Venturelli/WireImage

The velociraptors have found a Friend.

Rupert Friend, the British actor who in appeared in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, will star alongside Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey in the all-new Jurassic World feature being made by Universal Pictures.

Gareth Edwards is directing the creature feature that also has Manuel Garcia-Rulfo on the call sheet.

David Koepp, the original screenwriter of Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, penned the script for the new installment whose plot details are being kept hidden in a can of Barbasol.

The project is casting furiously ahead of a production start in mid-June in London. Universal will have a tight turnaround in post-production, as the studio has set a theatrical release of July 2, 2025.

Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley, who have shepherded the modern Jurassic franchise, will produce through Kennedy-Marshall. Steven Spielberg, who kicked off the franchise in 1993 with Jurassic Park, is exec producing through Amblin Entertainment.

Executive vp of production development Sara Scott and creative executive of production development Jacqueline Garell are overseeing the project for the studio.

In recent years, Friend has become a key part of the Anderson troupe of thespians, thanks to turns in The French Dispatch as well as Asteroid City. He can currently be seen in two of four of Anderson’s shorts based on the Roald Dahl short stories, The Swan and The Ratcatcher. The shorts appear on Netflix.

The actor, who also played the evil Grand Inquisitor opposite Ewan McGregor on Star Wars Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi, recently wrapped the Zach Cregger-produced sci-fi thriller Companion for New Line and will be seen in Michel Franco’s upcoming drama Dreams opposite Jessica Chastain.  

He is repped by UTA, Brillstein Entertainment and Hansen Jacobson.