A new Jurassic World film is set to start shooting in Malta this summer with Scarlett Johansson expected to take the lead role.

The production has booked almost all facilities at the Malta Film Studios in Kalkara this summer and is set to shoot bet­ween July and September, multiple film industry sources told Times of Malta.

The world-renowned franchise will only film part of its latest movie in Malta and there are no shoots scheduled on location.

The Malta Film Studios offers, among other facilities, two infinite-horizon water tanks that film productions generally use for large-scale sound effects and underwater shooting.

The Jurassic World franchise had also filmed part of its most recent film in Malta in 2020. Still Image: Universal Pictures

The Jurassic franchise first hit the big screens in 1993, with its blockbuster Jurassic Park, based on a novel by Michael Crichton and directed by Steven Spielberg.

A sequel followed in 1997 and then in 2001, 2015, 2018 and 2022.

Hollywood actress and celebrity Scarlett Johansson is expected to film in Malta this summer. Photo: Shutterstock.com

The 2022 film, called Dominion, starred Hollywood actor Chris Pratt and was also partly filmed in Malta, with scenes shot in Valletta, Vittoriosa, Mellieħa and Pembroke in 2020.

In the film, Malta starred as a hub for a dinosaur black market where velociraptors leap over churches and chase lead characters through the streets of Valletta in chaotic scenes.

Very few details have yet emerged on the new film, with Hollywood reporters saying it is set to premiere in July 2025 and that Johansson is expected to take a lead role in it.

A two-time Oscar nominee, the 39-year-old actress shot to fame with the film Lost in Translation, and she is mostly known for playing the Black Widow in several Marvel Studios films, including the Avengers.

The Jurassic World film is the latest in a series of big-time productions that have filmed in Malta over the past years, all of which made the best out of the remarkably generous government scheme that gives them 40 per cent cash back on almost all expenses incurred while their production films in Malta.

The government has repeatedly said it is committed to retain the rebate – albeit controversial – to attract more blockbusters to Malta, and for the film industry to become a leading ‘motor’ in the island’s tourism strategy.