David Robert Mitchell and J.J. Abrams Break Down ‘The End of Oak Street’s Most Shocking Twist

[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for The End of Oak Street]

No, writer-director David Robert Mitchell’s new sci-fi thriller, The End of Oak Street, isn’t a sneaky Cloverfield sequel or prequel, but it did reignite producer J.J. Abrams’ appreciation for original storytelling. While talking with Collider’s Aidan Kelley for their new prehistoric adventure, Mitchell and Abrams discuss the inspiration behind their latest feature and tease their upcoming projects, Mitchell’s long-awaited It Follows sequel and Abrams’ return to the director’s chair for The Great Beyond.

Not only does this duo give fans a tease of what’s to come, but with Oak Street now playing in theaters, Mitchell shares the original idea that hurled the Platt family’s quaint ‘80s neighborhood back to the Jurassic Period. In the movie, Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg Platt’s (Ewan McGregor) marital issues take a backseat when they wake up one morning to discover dinosaurs are running rampant, devouring their neighbors. Despite their fight for survival taking a deadly turn, Denise and the kids manage to escape this time-warped nightmare and save Greg, but at what cost, ultimately?

Don’t miss the conversation with Mitchell and Abrams in the video above, where they discuss the idea that sparked The End of Oak Street, how this movie was almost rated R, and why McGregor had to die. Plus, the pair discuss their next filmmaking endeavors, sharing filming updates on They Follow and what Abrams is most excited about for his first original movie since Super 8.

How a Suburban Walk Inspired David Robert Mitchell’s Original Creature Feature

J.J. Abrams says The End of Oak Street was almost rated R.

COLLIDER: Congrats on the movie. It was so refreshing to see a new original dinosaur movie that doesn’t have the word Jurassic in it, and it was just a blast to watch. Where did the idea for The End of Oak Street come from, and how did you both decide that this needed to be your next project?

DAVID ROBERT MITCHELL: Well, a few years ago, I was taking a walk in my neighborhood, and I was just passing this garage and house, and I don’t know why, but I imagined a dinosaur in that little alleyway, and it just made me kind of laugh to myself. I was like, “Oh, I love how that looks,” this sort of fantastical animal in this very mundane, kind of average Midwestern suburb. I was like, “I want to write a story that feels like this.” I had the idea, and I went home and started working on it, and put it together.

Then, it was just a matter of months, I think, and we shared the script with Anne Hathaway and with J.J. and the Bad Robot team, and they responded very positively. So, that’s how it happened.

Wonderful. J.J., can you elaborate a little bit more on when you got the script?

J.J. ABRAMS: That was a story, literally. From my point of view, I got this script delivered that was written by someone whose work I really admire, and I got to read it. It was just a movie that I suddenly and desperately wanted to see, and I felt like anything I could do to be helpful in bringing it to life and in support of this writer-director, I would be thrilled to get to do. It was more fun than anything.

Another thing I think is very interesting about the movie is that instead of just being in any suburban neighborhood, it’s a 1980s suburban neighborhood. What made you decide that needed to be the specific time period that the Platt family calls home?

MITCHELL: It’s a couple of things. One, I was a kid during that time, and so some of it is, again, it’s not autobiographical, but it’s a little bit of a reflection of memory, and just thinking about the way things looked, the way things felt, and also family connections from my childhood. So, that was a part of it.

And then it was also some of the movies that inspired it. Again, it’s a big range of stuff that are inspiration points for the film, but some of it is those late ‘70s, early ‘80s movies, where you have spectacle, but it’s grounded in character and family.

Shifting from the neighborhood world to the dinosaur world, it’s depicted as being so cruel and unforgiving, and we get to see a lot of great set pieces for that. Was there a point during the development of this movie when you were making it that you thought, “Maybe this should be rated R?” Was the plan to always keep it PG-13?

MITCHELL: When I first wrote it, I wasn’t sure. I thought there were probably a couple things in it that we took out just to make sure that we hit the PG-13 level, but it was very close. It wasn’t a lot, I don’t think.

ABRAMS: But I do think that originally, at least how I read it, I read it more as an R-rated movie because it just felt super intense. While I think there are a lot of intense things in the movie, because the movie has such a big heart, and ultimately it’s got such great balance in terms of the humor and the sweetness and the love of this family, this movie feels very well-intentioned in a weird way, like it’s safe terror, if there’s such a thing. So I feel like we got lucky because they could have pushed it probably to say it was an R, the ratings board, but luckily we got the PG-13, and I think that the movie deserves it.

David Robert Mitchell Offers a Cryptic Update on the ‘It Follows’ Sequel

Abrams also discusses returning to original storytelling with The Great Beyond.

Image via RADiUS-TWC

There’s one sequence in particular that I think really pushes it, which I’d love to talk about. Before I get into spoilers, though, I do have an individual for each of you. David, of course you have your roots in horror, and you’re returning to those roots very soon with the It Follows sequel, which I cannot wait for, so I would love to hear why now is the perfect time to continue Jay’s story. What can fans of the original expect?

MITCHELL: Well, when you see the film, we will answer that question. I don’t want to say too much. And what fans can expect? Well, I don’t want to say other than I’m very excited for it. I’m very proud of the work and the cast that we’re building and what we’re doing with it. We just finished week four, so I’m kind of right in the middle of it right now, so I don’t want to say too much. I tend to want to stay quiet until something is ready, but I’m excited to share it.

I can see why you two love working together so much, because, J.J., I know you love keeping things very close to the chest.

ABRAMS: Well, like you, I think you just don’t want to ruin it or say too much.

MITCHELL: We’re in the middle of it, so that’s really it.

Absolutely. J.J., specifically for you, you are also finally returning to the director’s chair for, I believe, your first original movie since Super 8, The Great Beyond. It’s still very early days for that, as well, but what was it about that project that you felt like, “I need to direct this,” as opposed to just write or produce it?

ABRAMS: Well, the story of it was really the thing that compelled me because there were very specific things that I wanted to see in a very specific way. But I will say that in reading David’s script for The End of Oak Street, it reminded me just how important it is to tell original stories.

You get involved, if you’re lucky, in some of these projects that are just so much bigger than all of us. It’s sort of a giant machine, and while aspects of it really are wonderful and thrilling, there was something about original storytelling that, when I read End of Oak Street, I was reminded just how much that’s the thing that, certainly in TV, I started out doing, and ended up getting involved in all these different projects that were really fun and challenging in their own ways, but this was a great reminder to tell an original story again. I’m really glad that you did on this one, and then I got to on The Great Beyond.

MITCHELL: Awesome.

I can’t wait for that.

Will There Be an ‘End of Oak Street 2?’ David Robert Mitchell Weighs In

The writer-director also explains why Ewan always had to die.

Image via Warner Bros. / courtesy Everett Collection

Circling back to Oak Street, I love Ewan McGregor. Everyone loves Ewan McGregor. Why did you need to kill Ewan McGregor in the way that you did?

MITCHELL: It’s about really connecting and feeling the full range of emotions. For us to feel the levels of joy and the humor, we have to have the suspense and the terror, and we have to have the pain. So, it’s really about bringing the audience on an adventure, and sometimes that adventure can go to dark places, and it can move through all kinds of spaces, moments that might be shocking, or might be sad, but also can be beautiful. There’s the safety of a movie, ultimately, and so we can go through that experience and we can feel those things, and then we can see this family together and that they love each other and they’re connected, and we can feel that for them and for ourselves.

Wonderful. Thankfully, we do get a happy resolution at the very end, which is a very interesting twist to that story. What do you think is going through that version of Ewan McGregor’s mind when he’s kind of thrust into this dinosaur world that he technically didn’t even really experience?

MITCHELL: Well, I mean, he says it. His line literally says everything that he’s thinking.

The ending I find to be so fascinating because it does feel like a natural conclusion, but also at the same time, it feels like there are maybe a few breadcrumbs where it feels like the concept is really starting to expand into new territory. Could there possibly be an Oak Street 2 in the cards, or do you see this more as a closed circuit?

MITCHELL: I don’t know. For me, it’s just about making this movie and putting this movie into the world. I often have ideas for things beyond what I first put on the page, so do I have other thoughts about this and other things that could happen? Absolutely. Will we do that? I have no idea.

The End of Oak Street is in theaters now.

Release Date

August 14, 2026

Runtime

100 minutes

Director

David Robert Mitchell

Writers

David Robert Mitchell

Producers

Chris Bender, J.J. Abrams, Tommy Harper, David Robert Mitchell, Jake Weiner, Matt Jackson, Joanne Lee