How to Watch the ‘Jurassic Park’ Movies in Order

In 1993, Steven Spielberg released a cinematic adaptation of Michael Crichton’s hit novel “Jurassic Park.” Co-written by Crichton and David Koepp, Spielberg’s film remains in high esteem to this day, one of the most rewarding and brilliantly constructed blockbusters in cinema history. Beyond the beauty and fear of the dinosaurs themselves (portrayed through a mix of digital and practical effects that holds up to this day), the film provided poignant commentary on the dangers of mass consumption, expansion and commercialization.

“You read what others had done, and you took the next step,” Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm says in one of the film’s most iconic scenes. “You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could, and before you even knew what you had, you patented it, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunch box, and now you’re selling it . . . Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

Since 1993, “Jurassic Park” has spun out into a massive franchise, spawning six sequels and a handful of TV series. While the first follow-up was directed by Spielberg himself, later entries would see directors Joe Johnston, Colin Trevorrow, J. A. Bayona and Gareth Edwards behind the wheel. The sequels helped turn “Jurassic Park” into a $6-billion franchise, but no entry since “Jurassic Park” received a certified fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes — all follow-ups except “Jurassic World” hold rotten ratings.

On July 2, “Jurassic World Rebirth” (no colon) hit theaters, bringing screenwriter Koepp back to the franchise with an all new cast of characters. Directed by Gareth Edwards and led by Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey and Rupert Friend, this film sees a group travel to a previously unseen island full of mutated dinosaurs deemed too dangerous for the original Jurassic Park.

Before you see “Jurassic World Rebirth,” here’s how you can watch every film from the “Jurassic Park” franchise in order.

How to Watch the “Jurassic Park” Movies in Chronological Order

With two franchise reboots and a slew of unnumbered sequels, keeping track of the “Jurassic Park” movies can be a little complicated. Thankfully, there are no timeline shenanigans in this franchise, and the series’ release order is synonymous with its chronological order.

After the success of the first film, two sequels followed “Jurassic Park” to form a trilogy starring members of the original cast. Spielberg followed up his first outing with “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” followed soon after by Joe Johnston’s “Jurassic Park III.”

In 2015, Colin Trevorrow relaunched the franchise with “Jurassic World” to great financial success. This started a sort of second movement for the series, spawning a trilogy of Chris Pratt/Bryce Dallas Howard-led sequels. “Jurassic World” was followed by J. A. Bayona’s “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” which was then followed by “Jurassic World: Dominion.” Trevorrow returned to direct the finale after being booted from the final film in the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy.

Now, “Jurassic World Rebirth” launched a third life for the franchise — one that will likely continue pending the success of this new adventure.

Here’s how you can watch the “Jurassic Park” films in chronological order:

“Jurassic Park” (1993)

“The Lost World: Jurassic Park” (1997)

“Jurassic Park III” (2001)

“Jurassic World” (2015)

“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” (2018)

“Jurassic World: Dominion” (2022)

“Jurassic World Rebirth” (2025)

Do you have to watch the “Jurassic Park” movies in order?

Yes and no.

I would describe the “Jurassic Park” series as a franchise full of on-ramps. While you can certainly go into each movie blind and figure your way around (“Dinosaur theme park goes wrong” isn’t that hard of a concept to grasp), there are plot lines and characters that carried over from some films to others.

“Jurassic Park” marks a good starting point, no matter which movies you plan to watch next. The best film in the franchise, Spielberg’s original movie laid the groundwork for all that came after. “The Lost World” and “Jurassic Park III” both feature characters established in the first movie, like Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm, Sam Neill’s Alan Grant, Lara Dern’s Ellie Sattler and Richard Attenborough’s John Hammond.

You do not necessarily have to watch any of the “Jurassic Park” films to see “Jurassic World.” “Jurassic World” made over $1 billion at the global box office more than 20 years after “Jurassic Park” came out, signaling that younger audiences likely did just fine without having seen the original. However, “Jurassic World” features a number of nostalgic callbacks to the first film and includes the return of BD Wong as Dr. Henry Wu. Watching “Jurassic Park” may not be necessary to for “Jurassic World,” but it will help give some context to the film’s references.

“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” benefits from having at least seen “Jurassic World,” as it follows up on the characters established in the first film. Since “Jurassic World: Dominion” includes characters from “Jurassic World,” “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” and “Jurassic Park,” you should probably watch at least those three entries before seeing Trevorrow’s finale. “Dominion’s” complicated plot benefits from knowledge of both prior “Jurassic World” films. “Dominion” also marks the return of Neill, Dern and Goldblum to the franchise, together again for the first time since “Jurassic Park.” Just don’t expect their characterization to be the same as it was in 1993.

As a new reboot to the franchise, “Jurassic World Rebirth” was designed to be a new on-ramp of its own. With a number of callbacks to the first film, I would again say that watching “Jurassic Park” is recommended without being entirely necessary.

Are the “Jurassic Park” movies streaming?

Aside from “Rebirth,” every film in the “Jurassic Park” franchise is streaming — though not all in the same place.

“Jurassic Park,” “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” “Jurassic Park III,” “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” and “Jurassic World: Dominion” are all available to stream on Peacock. Several of the films, such as “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic Park III,” can also be streamed on Starz with Apple TV+.

Though “Jurassic World” is not streaming on Peacock, every film in the “Jurassic World” trilogy is available to stream on Fubo. If you don’t have Fubo, you can stream the first “Jurassic World” film for free on Tubi.

All six original “Jurassic Park” films can also be digitally rented or purchased, and all exist on physical media in various forms. While “Jurassic World Rebirth” will not start streaming this weekend, it will land on Peacock after at least 45 days in theaters. It will stay on Peacock for four months, move to Amazon Prime for 10, and finally return to Peacock for at least four more. This is part of an admittedly-complicated streaming deal between Amazon Prime and NBC Universal.

Is there anything else in the franchise?

Colin Trevorrow directed two short films tied into his “Jurassic World” trilogy. The first, “Battle at Big Rock,” features a family that is confronted by dinosaurs while on a camping trip at Big Rock National Park. The 10-minute short film, available on YouTube, is arguably Trevorrow’s best work in the franchise.

Trevorrow additionally directed a five-minute prologue to “Jurassic World: Dominion,” which can also be found on YouTube. This short initially premiered before IMAX screenings of the “Fast & Furious” film “F9.”

“Thor” and “X-Men: First Class” screenwriter Zack Stentz developed two animated “Jurassic Park” series for Netflix: “Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous” and “Jurassic World: Chaos Theory.” Scott Kreamer and Aaron Hammersley served as show runners on “Camp Cretaceous,” which ran for five seasons and ties loosely into the events of “Jurassic World” and “Fallen Kingdom”. “Chaos Theory,” which Kreamer developed alongside Stentz, saw the two showrunners return for a three-season sequel series that tied into “Jurassic World: Dominion.” Both animated family series are currently available on Netflix.