Mahershala Ali walked the red carpet in New York on Monday in support of his latest blockbuster Jurassic World Rebirth, while also touching on the status of his highly anticipated Marvel project Blade.
The vampire thriller has been stuck in development hell for years, as two different directors have exited the project while Ali has been attached to star since 2019. It was also hampered by the actors and writers strikes, alongside Disney’s changing studio strategy, and last year was entirely removed from 2025 theatrical calendar.
At the Jurassic premiere, Ali told The Hollywood Reporter that when it comes to Blade, “I’m just taking it a day at a time. I’m doing the best work I can,” pointing to upcoming film Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother as one that scratched his “stunts itch.” But he added, “I would love for Blade to happen; we’ll see, I don’t know where Marvel is at right now. I’m just looking for the next great part, I really am.”
As for the latest Jurassic entry, which he stars in alongside Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey, Ali mused that the best part of working on a movie of this scale is to see it finished.
“These types of films are so hard to shoot because of the way in which they’re shot; you can do one scene in three countries over four months. So I wouldn’t necessarily say as a performer, as an actor, that that’s necessarily enjoyable because it’s difficult, it’s hard to make sense of,” he explained. “So I think if anything, you have to operate with a certain degree of trust that this is all going to fit together well, and so I guess the best part of it is actually completing it and getting to see what [director] Gareth [Edwards] was able to edit and put together. He just did a wonderful job in post.”
Jurassic World Rebirth hits theaters July 2.
Hilary Lewis contributed to this report.