‘The End of Oak Street’ Preview: Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor Try Not to Get Eaten Alive by Dinosaurs in 14 Minutes of 4DX Footage
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- David Robert Mitchell directed "The End of Oak Street" with J.J. Abrams producing under Bad Robot, premiering 14 minutes of 4DX footage Saturday night in Los Angeles to an audience of journalists and influencers whose seats rocked and sprayed water during dinosaur attack scenes.
- Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor star as married couple Denise and Greg, who split up armed with a baseball bat and shotgun to search for their dog Starbuck (an "affectionate nod to 'Battlestar Galactica,'" per Mitchell) while their two kids — played by Maisy Stella and Christian Convery — wait at home.
- The previewed footage showed the couple narrowly escaping a speedy dinosaur in their suburban neighborhood before discovering Oak Street has been mysteriously relocated into a world populated by roaming dinosaurs of "all different sizes and terrifying types."
- Michael Giacchino composed the score, drawing on his experience scoring all three "Jurassic World" films and "The Lost World" video game — a connection Abrams said lets the composer "excavate" the emotional heartbeat of each scene.
- Mitchell framed the concept as merging a "fantastical" normal neighborhood with dinosaurs to "ground the spectacle," while Abrams compared the film to "The Twilight Zone," noting each family member carries a secret that elevates the genre premise.
- Warner Bros. will release "The End of Oak Street" in theaters on Aug. 14, including in select 4DX locations nationwide and in Imax.
Why it matters: With an Aug. 14 release framed by the filmmakers as an "end-of-summer blockbuster," Warner Bros. is betting on an original sci-fi concept rather than established IP, leaning on 4DX and Imax as its main theatrical differentiators. Michael Giacchino's involvement — straight off all three "Jurassic World" films — gives the project a direct creative throughline to the highest-grossing dinosaur franchise in theaters.
