Deadline's Mike Fleming is supposed to be on vacation, but he wasn't going to leave without dropping one last big tidbit for us, and it's that Universal Pictures has hired Rise of the Planet of the Apes screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver to write Jurassic Park 4, the long-awaited follow-up to Jurassic Park 3, the third installment of Steven Spielberg's blockbuster dinosaur franchise which was released way back in the summer of 2001.

Last December, Spielberg himself told ComingSoon.net that it was on the schedule and this time, it looks like it might really be happening.

The previous three movies--the first two movies directed by Spielberg--have grossed $1.9 billion worldwide. Though Spielberg won't direct the new film, he will produce with Kathleen Kennedy.