Interview: JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH Screenwriter David Koepp Discusses Awe, Horror, and Dinos

David Koepp crafted classic awe and wonder with the original Jurassic Park. The screenwriter returns to the franchise with Jurassic World Rebirth. For the film, Koepp aimed to tap back into some of the original film’s magic – including dread and fear.

Koepp is no stranger to writing spine-tingling, hair-raising tension. Two of his novels, Aurora and Cold Storage, are two page-turning examples. Look no further than Bad Influence, Carlito’s Way, Mission: Impossible, Premium Rush, War of the Worlds, and his most recent trio of Steven Soderbergh films. Don’t forget the cult classic horror film he directed, either – Stir of Echoes. 

We covered a few of these films with Koepp, who recently spoke with Daily Dead about writing Jurassic Park and coming back for Rebirth. 

Since the first Jurassic Park, you’ve got 30 years of experience. How’d that passing of time influence telling another story in [author] Michael Crichton's world?

Koepp: Well, I knew it was a little daunting. Can I get my head back into the same kind of mindset I had 30 years ago? That's a long time. A lot of life in the meantime. I started by watching every movie, but then I reread the novels, which is such a massive leap because the whole thing exists because Crichton had a genius idea. The thing about reclaiming DNA from fossilized mosquitoes is just — that's a once-in-a-lifetime idea for a writer. It's so good. And his science throughout the books was impeccable because the quality of his research was so great.

As I reread them, what I remembered was his tone is different from ours — a little darker. Steven's a little lighter. That's just who they are as human beings, and we were trying for a little bit more humor. So, it was actually much easier to get back in the mindset of that time because we did want to come closer to the tone of the original movie, just because that's what we were comfortable with, and that's what we'd done.

You were 29 when you wrote Jurassic Park. As a writer, how was your confidence then? Did you struggle with any imposter syndrome?

Koepp: There was significant imposter syndrome going on. I'd done three or four movies, depending on how you count 'em, before that. None had really been successful. Death Becomes Her came closest and, in the end, was successful, but at the time, it had a mixed reception — not as much money as everybody hoped. It certainly stuck around, but the others were indie movies that did fine. I don't think they lost money, but nothing that you would call a hit.

But I did feel like part of the big thing to get over was feeling comfortable in that I had a reason to be in the room with Steven, that I did have something to offer. So there was a fair amount of self-talk in my head, but you learn to quiet that. I think he was so used to it because he's quick to try to put you at ease by saying things like, “Which is why I work with a colleague such as you,” or things that are sort of overtly designed to make you feel like you belong. I knew what he was doing, but I still appreciated it.

Even at this point in your career, after all your success, do you still confront negative self-talk as you write Jurassic World Rebirth?

Koepp: The more I think about it, the more I know that I can write to please myself. I like the stuff I do, or I wouldn't write it down, but the weight of others' expectations becomes a thing. That first movie in particular is really beloved, so the audience's expectations are going to be very high. Also, the internet evolved. After the first movie, suddenly early drafts can be critiqued online with Ain't It Cool News. It made it very hard to work.

I would liken it to when you're a basketball player trying to shoot free throws on the opposing court and everybody behind the thing is going nuts. It gets very distracting. You don't want to disappoint people. Then again, you don't want to let them into your head too much or pander or be obsequious. You want to write what you like. In my case, if I were to go sit down at 68th and Broadway and the lights go down and I have my popcorn — what do I want to see? If you can stay true to that, I think you have a better chance of success.

The first Jurassic Park, for so many people, represents experiencing awe for the first time in a movie theater. As movies have continued to get bigger and bigger, is creating that sense of wonder harder these days?

Koepp: You try to think of new stuff. It's not the first movie that had the great advantage of novelty. Now, it came with the great risk of novelty. Nobody knew if it would work or not. I mean, there was no guarantee that that technology was going to work. It could have looked terrible. Part of the initial plan was stop-motion. [Visual effects artist] Dennis Muren hadn't yet worked his genius. So when you get to that moment near the beginning when they pull up and they see the watering hole and the sauropods, that really blew you out of your seat because you just didn't know that was possible. And now you not only know it's possible — you're tired of it. So, what else you got? That's daunting.

Is there a sequence in Jurassic World Rebirth that you hope answers that question? 

The sequence in the movie that I could just watch over and over again is in the middle – this ocean-going adventure. You've seen it in the trailers. It's 20 minutes where they're pursuing this [dinosaur], they need a sample from it, and it's just exhilarating — something that I have not seen. It's a matter of finding those moments where there’s awe and wonder, where it is emotional. Scary is important, but emotional is too — you can't forget that. 

Great characters can always provide spectacle, right?

Koepp: Yeah, if you can get 'em. I've always thought these movies are hardest for the writers and the actors because you are competing with these incredible creatures, and you're trying to create a level of reality within the level of reality of the movie, and that's hard. Finding those human moments and finding real characters is a real challenge.

When you’re trying to scare an audience or create tension, do you have any guiding principles?

Koepp: Don't show too much too soon. We learned it with Jaws, and it's worked ever since. Actually, if you want to go back, we learned it with Cat People in the ‘40s. Don't show too much too soon. Dread and suspense are your friends. That's what you want. Brian De Palma said once, “It's about setting the suspense hook and then drawing it out as long as humanly possible.” He’s right.

Which you obviously did in the first movie with the introduction of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. At the time, was there a lot of debate about showing the T-Rex sooner?

Koepp: That was the discussion in the outline because again, you want to push things off as long as you can, but not until you become tiresome. In part because it works better as storytelling, and in part because of the budget — those effects back then were really expensive — and so you got to be judicious with it. 

The fun part about the T-Rex in the first movie is that we build up to a great reveal and then it doesn't show up. You want to create a powerful desire. You got to really want to see it before we're going to bring it out. We're going to bring it out. That's part of the deal we make with you as an audience, but we're going to wait.

There’s real fear and terror in the original film. Did you want to bring back scares for Jurassic World Rebirth?

Koepp: Scary is really fun and exciting, and for some reason, kids can handle it in these movies. I think a serial killer is upsetting, and I wouldn't dream of showing it to a child. I don't even want to see it myself, but a Marauding Velociraptor — I can handle that. 

Part of the appeal of these creatures is that kids know they're real, they really existed, but they're not here anymore. There's both risk and safety in the premise, which is perfect. I had two young sons when the first movies came out, and the only time they got too upset was in the second movie. I got eaten by a T-Rex at the end of the second movie, and I showed them far too young and scared them. I do apologize.

[Laughs] As a kid, the opening of Jurassic Park II when the little girl got attacked terrified me. It’s Spielberg stretching his Temple of Doom muscles. How’d the sequel end up darker?

Koepp: The second movie is darker. Sequels a lot of times tend to be darker. I don't know why, but they often are. Empire Strikes Back — the famous example. The book is darker as well, and I think it was fun to be able to go there. Starting the movie attacking a kid is pretty no-nonsense, but you're trying to grab people's attention. I remember I was talking to somebody who did a lot of animation for Disney and said, “Why do you guys always kill a parent?” And they said, “Because kids have no attention span. You gotta grab 'em by the throat.” So, that's got to get their attention.

Like you said, you don’t know why sequels tend to go darker, but my theory is, Ian Malcolm is haunted. He’s far from the jovial guy we first met.

Koepp: The dream has died. With the first movie, Ian Malcolm famously, most strikingly, is saying, “This is a terrible idea and it's going to go wrong.” Everybody else is like, “Wow, this is incredible. Look at how great it is.” You can't do that anymore. An audience knows this is not a great idea. This is a terrible idea. Malcolm's character knows because he's been there and been through it all. So there's the very self-aware line with, “Yeah, sure, ooh, ah, then later there's running and screaming.” So, it has to be darker because we've already seen the consequences of where it can go.

What about making characters return to the island this time, knowing it’s a bad idea?

Koepp: The challenge of this movie was what would make people go back, knowing that there's a significant risk of loss of life and limb. And so, I think we came up with a good premise that answers that. I'm happy with, in particular, about halfway through the movie, Scarlett Johansson, her character, has a monologue where she says, “We knew exactly what we were getting into. Nothing has changed. We always knew there was a significant chance we could die. We had some things that were going to help us defend ourselves. Maybe they would've worked, maybe not. Let's just get it done and get out.”

Being from Daily Dead, we want to discuss a few of your horror films, starting with Stir of Echoes. Excellent movie. What drove you to not only write that story but to direct it? 

Koepp: Well, I wanted to do a ghost story and I came across Richard Matheson's book, which was at that time 30 years old, 40 years old, and had sort of been neglected. I managed to get the rights to it. At the time, I remember thinking ghost stories are always set in a very, very nice house with these very beautiful couples. Everybody was always wealthy or the house was gigantic or obviously haunted. I wanted to see it set in a working-class environment, and the book was.

It was set in Southern California as the aviation industry was coming up and there were all those quickie housing developments to house the people who were working in the aviation industry. I didn't know that time and place, but I grew up in Wisconsin, not far over the border, and my mother's family was from Chicago. I know working-class Chicago, and I know those houses, and that's Polish Town. She grew up on the South Side, but I know those people and I know that environment, and I wanted to see people who are really working hard for a living. What's a ghost story in their house? So I thought I had a fresh environment in which to tell that story.

You’ve debated and thought twice about your desire to write about families. War of the Worlds and Presence, those two films show fear among family. Are you more comfortable writing about family, knowing those stories will grow with you?

Koepp: I think I was working on Panic Room and Brian De Palma asked me, “What are you working on?” And I said, “Oh, it's this story all in a house. I'm afraid I'm doing the same thing over and over. It's all in a house and scary things happen and she's going through a hard time getting a divorce, blah, blah, blah, and I don't know if I should finish. I'm doing the same thing I always do.” And he said, “Yeah, it's called Who You Are. You only have so many stories. That's your milieu. That's what you like. Just do it. Just try and change it up.”

Family is scary, too. One of the most frightening scenes in Presence is a mother (played by Lucy Liu) drunkenly telling her son how much he means to her. 

Koepp: Terribly awkward. I know – she's making a lot of mistakes. That's very uncomfortable, that scene. Family is juicy material. There's a reason [Henrik] Ibsen kept doing it and Arthur Miller and all those guys. There's a lot. Human families are complex. They're great.

After Kimi, Presence, and Black Bag, what do you attribute your success with Steven Soderbergh to?

Koepp: I think in Soderbergh's case, I'm just able to carry him over his obvious shortcomings and into success [Laughs]. I don't know, I think we have similarities. We'd known each other for 30 years and had once or twice tried to work together, but it didn't work out. Now, we've done three in three years. We both have a lot of respect for genres. We don't feel like we're slumming if we try something that's clearly a thriller or clearly a scary movie.

Although Presence isn't exactly scary, it's unsettling. Black Bag is clearly a spy movie. We both respect that and enjoy it. We both like to work quickly and we stay pretty much in each other's lanes. He treats me with a lot of respect and lets me run with what I want to do, and I don't weigh in with unnecessary opinions on what he does. It's mutual admiration and respect.

When you write horror, does any of your mentor William Goldman’s (Marathon Man) advice come to mind?

Koepp: Oh, Bill’s? I don't know that anything comes to mind specifically from Bill about things that are scary. One thing I remember, I would give him scripts to read and he always said when he got the script, “Do you want notes or do you want me to love it?” Which I thought was really direct. And occasionally I'd say, “I want notes.” And occasionally I'd say, “I just want you to love it.” And he said, “Great, I'll read it.” And then he'd call me up and say, “I love this thing.” Sometimes you just want encouragement.

[Laughs] Was Secret Window your only Stephen King adaptation? Did you ever work on any scripts that went unproduced?

Koepp: No, that was the one.

What do you learn from adapting King?

Koepp: You have to quiet the voice that says, I'm adapting Stephen King. I can't change a word, because you can. He's another guy who goes out of his way to say, “Do your thing. Don't need you to type up my novella into a screenplay. I need you to make your movie.” He retains certain approvals, which I think he's loath to use. He never dinged anything. He really wants you to go make your movie. Let's face it, he's busy writing another book. He doesn't want to stop and try and control somebody else's movie.

What you get from King is deep interior lives for the characters, which is really useful. I can make up my own movie plot, but a character, a really good character who's got an internal life — that's great to bring.

Are you writing any novels presently?

Koepp: No, I have an idea. I just have to type it up. It's in my head, but I have to write it down and that can be very time-consuming.

Do you consider thinking also writing?

Koepp: Yes. It's a big part of it. It takes a long time. Part of the Rebirth script — one of the reasons it went well — is Steven and I spent several months trading emails and outlining a story. And then when we had agreed on one and had it to a point where I could start, the Writer's Guild strike hit. So then I had five months where I couldn't touch it. You can stop providing services, but you can't turn off your subconscious. So, I think when I came back to it in September, October of that year, whenever the strike ended, it went very quickly. I spent a lot of time noodling it in my head.

To end with a question apt for Daily Dead, Ghost Town is a lovely movie about death. Tell me if I’m wrong, but do you think that film best represents — as Brian De Palma would say — Who You Are?

Koepp: No, I hope so. I like that movie – it's a very sweet and good-hearted film. I think, on good days, I can be very good-hearted. That movie is one of my favorites. It's very touching. I think two things, three notable things came into alignment on that. One is that I met my now wife, so it was a wonderful time in my life. And two is I co-wrote it with John Kamps, who's just got a great heart.

There would be moments in the script where we'd be working on a scene and I'd write in dialogue, “Blah, blah, blah, some touching camp shit here.” And then I'd “cut to” and go on to the next thing. I’d come back the next day, and sure enough, there was some touching camp shit right there. The third was Ricky Gervais really connected with that character and just was great. Those were a nice confluence of events.