It’s no secret that horror is truly making the comeback that it deserves. With the last two years dominated by titles like Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, and Curry Barker’s Obsession—not to mention Eggers’ next foray into the freakish, Werwulf—horror is back in a big way. So it’s no surprise that one of the decade’s best horror directors is throwing his hat in the ring to make one of the most beloved franchises of all time as terrifying as it deserves to be.
In a tried-and-true celebrity confessional (aka a Reddit Ask Me Anything geared toward promoting his new series with Prime Video, an adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie), director Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass) has said that he wants to sink his teeth into a Jurassic World film. His caveat, though? “I’d want to go really scary with it. A true dinosaur horror film would be a blast.” And fans of the original two Jurassic Park novels by Michael Crichton know just how terrifying this IP can be. Fans of the film franchise also agree that it’s time to return to the survival-horror elements that were most prominent in the first Jurassic Park movie, which starred the late Sam Neil, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum.
Known best for his emotional take on horror, with the sprawling family drama that was The Haunting of Hill House, or the sweeping, doomed romance of The Haunting of Bly Manor, Flanagan is also proving he has what it takes to genuinely terrify beyond trauma (his new Exorcist film is primed to be the most terrifying movie of 2027, hands down). When asked by a fan what made truly great horror, he said, “For me, horror needs heart. It doesn’t need to be sentimental or anything; it doesn’t need to get all emotional either (some of the most vicious horror movies can work beautifully), but it needs a world in balance. Evil only has impact if there is also good. Terror only means something if there is hope – hope the character can survive, hope the horrifying experience will end—hope in SOMETHING.” It’s a statement that feels decidedly in line with what Crichton was doing when he wrote his Jurassic Park novels.
Upon hearing that Flanagan was interested in a dinosaur horror, fans started jumping at the idea. “The franchise has been desperately needing to lean back into the survival horror roots from the original book,” said one. Another added, “I think he’d be great. The Jurassic franchise has lost the horror element that made the first movie so memorable.” Some fans, however, are wary and want Flanagan to return to his roots with more original projects, especially on the heels of adaptations like Carrie, The Exorcist, and his Dark Tower project currently in the works. But at this point, the world is really Flanagan’s oyster, and it seems that no project is out of reach (come on, Hollywood, it’s time to make Spirit in the Sky a reality).
