"Jurassic World" arrived 14 years after "JP3" to largely positive reviews, particularly from audiences. "Dominion," on the other hand, was met with the worst reviews in the franchise to date. While full reviews for "Rebirth" haven't dropped, as of this writing, the online reactions have been far more positive. That could help in terms of legs after what looks to be a softer opening weekend (relative to the $6 billion "Jurassic" franchise anyhow). "Rebirth" picks up five years after the events of "Dominion," with the remaining dinosaurs on the planet now mostly existing in isolated spots around the equator. From there, the film follows a group of people as they travel to a remote island to extract DNA from three massive dinosaurs, as the genetic material is crucial for a new drug that will bring life-saving benefits to humankind. Scarlett Johansson ("Black Widow"), Rupert Friend ("Obi-Wan Kenobi"), Jonathan Bailey ("Wicked"), and Mahershala Ali ("Moonlight") star. For Universal, there are big, long-term questions at play here. Even with a softer opening, can "Rebirth" help get the franchise back on track? "Dominion" ran the risk of being the point of no return in that regard, similar to what "Transformers: The Last Knight" was to the "Transformers" movies. Recall that "The Last Knight" dipped badly at the box office compared to its predecessors, and the "Transformers" films have yet to recover in spite of Paramount's best efforts. In other words, Universal needs to avoid an uncontrolled downward spiral along those lines here, as this is one of the studio's biggest cash cows. "Rebirth" doesn't need to clear $1 billion to become a hit, of course. With a reported budget of $180 million, the movie simply needs to make something in the range of $600 million (especially in light of how much money these films bring in with regard to revenue from merchandise and whatnot). But what it can't do is further make audiences say, "I've had enough." Because it's not about this movie, it's about the next film. Universal needs this to be "Spider-Man: Homecoming," which set up a bigger movie to come after the disappointment that was "The Amazing Spider-Man 2." In short, the studio has a lot riding on this movie. If it has to return to the drawing board, winning audiences back is going to be easier said than done. "Jurassic World Rebirth" opens in theaters on July 2, 2025.