JONATHAN BAILEY & SCARLETT JOHANSSON: APEX ADVENTURE

A year before Scarlett Johansson made her film debut at the age of 9 in 1994 fantasy comedy North, she was just another fan awestruck by Steven Spielberg's epic 1993 blockbuster, Jurassic Park. • By Jennie Noonan

- Jennie Noonan

"One of my first moviegoing memories was seeing the first Jurassic Park," she explained during a press conference for the upcoming sequel, Jurassic World Rebirth (in cinemas July 3). "It completely blew my mind. The soundscape was enormous, the visual effects were unlike anything we'd ever seen and the dinosaurs were extraordinary. It just felt so real. That experience stuck with me my whole life."

The franchise, created by author Michael Crichton, has spawned six more films, the latest being Rebirth, helmed by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards and written by original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp. The story is set five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, which closed out the Jurassic World trilogy that kicked off in 2015 with stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. This time, a team of specialists embark on an expedition to an island research facility for the original Jurassic Park to collect DNA samples for a pharmaceutical company.

"When I heard they were making another Jurassic - especially with this fresh reintroduction, a new take on the world - I was thrilled. I had this feeling that maybe there was finally a role I could be right for. And when I found out there was, I was very excited," Johansson said. "