'Jurassic World' heads to theaters in June 2015

Bryan Alexander | USA TODAY

Dinosaur fear has a name and a date.

Steven Spielberg brings his long-awaited next installment of the Jurassic Park series to theaters June 12, 2015. It also has a name — Jurassic World — Universal Pictures announced on Tuesday.

Colin Trevorrow has been tapped to direct the epic action-adventure from a draft of the screenplay he wrote with Derek Connolly. It will be shot in 3-D.

The filmmakers have already promised new dinosaur villains for the fourth installment of the franchise. The first three films in the series have taken in $1.9 billion at the box office.

Earlier this year, a 3-D re-release of the original 1993 Jurassic Park inspired a return to the dinosaur madness of decades past and brought in $114 million globally.

The news comes the same day that Disney studios announced that Pirates of the Caribbean 5 would move off the summer 2015 calendar and be released in 2016.

The excitement about the Jurassic film immediately made its way across Hollywood Tuesday to the Star Trek Into Darkness party to celebrate the DVD and Blu-Ray release.

"Jurassic World? Sign me up. Obviously, I'll be there," said Star Trek director J.J. Abrams. "I don't know what the story is but it sounds like fun."

Paleontologist Jack Horner, who has been an adviser on the Jurassic Park films, told USA TODAY in April that the original 1993 movie allowed adults to explore their childhood love of the prehistoric creatures.

"This was the first time adults got really interested to the level that the kids have always been," he said. "It completely raised the interest level for adults."

It also made bigger stars of T. rex and the previously overlooked velociraptor. "Jurassic Park created the velociraptor," said Horner.

As for which dinosaur will take on the bad guy role in the new film, Horner was mum.

"I can't actually tell you who that will be," said Horner, who will consult on the new film. "But you'll want to keep the lights on after you see this movie."