J.A. Bayona to direct the next 'Jurassic World' movie?

J.A. Bayona is expected to direct the next Jurassic World movie.

According to the THR report, the 51-year-old Spanish filmmaker is in talks with Universal Studios to helm the next installment in the dinosaur film franchise.

This news comes after Gareth Edwards announced his departure from the franchise in August.

At that time, an insider told the outlet that “Edwards will now focus on other original projects he is developing," while “the studio is opening up the search for a new director."

Following this report, Universal Studios also issued a statement confirming Gareth's departure.

“We had an incredible experience working with Gareth on Jurassic World Rebirth," the statement read.

Gareth's exit from the franchise comes after he defended his decision to use AI in his 2023 movie The Creator.

"I can't see a reason why you wouldn't become interested in this stuff as a filmmaker. It's so clearly a tool that might be up there with the camera. It's going to be better than CGI," the director said during Amazon's AI on the Lot event in May.

"I'm excited, I hope you are," he added.

During the event, the British filmmaker also expressed his desire to make a hybrid generative AI film.

"It feels like this stuff's changing every three months," he said. "It's like we have to revisit the plan six months from now because it might be a totally different series of tools. And the things that... weren't possible three months ago or six months ago, some of them are now possible."