The Ronin can independently confirm THR/Deadline’s recent report that Gareth Edwards has been hired to direct “Jurassic World 4,” aka, “Jurassic Park 7.” We had been tipped off just before the outlet dropped their report on the hiring. Edwards isn’t a stranger to working on existing studio IP he previously worked on “Godzilla” for Legendary helping them launch their Monsterverse lineup of films and did the “Star Wars” prequel film “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” that spawned into two seasons of “Andor” on Disney+. The filmmaker also has an established working relationship with ILM, the visual effects company that works on the “Jurassic” franchise. Their recent film together, “The Creator,” was nominated for the Best Achievement In Visual Effects Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony going up against the likes of the scrappy Japanese film “Godzilla Minus One.”

The news comes after David Leitch (“Deadpool 2”), who has a first-look deal with Universal Pictures, was in talks but eventually backed out over creative differences with the studio. “Jurassic World 4” is expected to be a soft-reboot of the franchise without any returning cast members and a script coming from veteran screenwriter David Koepp (“Mission: Impossible”), who previously wrote Steven Speilberg‘s “Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic Park: The Lost World.”

UPDATE: Collider was able to get this quote from Edwards last night at their FYC event saying “This opportunity is like a dream” and said this was the only thing that would make him “drop everything” including his next movie idea.

“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.’ 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 very excited.”

Author Michael Crichton is the creator of “Jurassic Park” with two novels published before his death. The franchise focuses on a bio-engineering company that discovers a way to clone dinosaurs for a new amusement park attraction until human error leads to the aggressive creatures being freed from their electrified cages/pens. “Jurassic World: Dominion” had dinosaurs living off the island and cohabitating with humans in different parts of the world. We’re still waiting on concrete plot details but we likely won’t have to too much longer with an expected summer production to meet Universal’s set release date of July 2, 2025. Although, given that both “Fantastic Four” and “Superman: Legacy” are taking spots in that month, we suspect that Universal will either move up or delay the film’s release, It all depends on when filming actually begins as Edwards will now have to jump feet first into production design and prep for this next installment.