Jurassic World Dominion director Colin Trevorrow explains how the blockbuster is shaping the future of the franchise. The dinosaur action movie is the sixth and final film in the long-running series that began with Jurassic Park in 1993. Although Jurassic World Dominion was not well received by critics and was the franchise’s lowest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes, the film turned out to be a huge box office success, grossing over $1 billion worldwide. It is the second highest grossing film of the year behind Top Gun: Maverick‘s $1.4 billion catch.
In the run up to Jurassic World Dominion‘s release, it was widely believed that this would be the final installment in the dinosaur franchise. The marketing and presence of legendary stars Laura Dern, Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum all signaled the end of an era. In January, franchise producer Frank Marshall acknowledged that: Jurassic World Dominion concludes the story that started with the original 1993 film, but remained open to continuing the franchise in the future. Trevorrow echoed that sentiment in July, stating that he felt a new filmmaker might have more to say in the world that author Michael Crichton, director Steven Spielberg and writer David Koepp made decades earlier.
In a recent interview with Empireexplains Trevorrow that Jurassic World Dominion lays the foundation for the future of the franchise. The director admits he was surprised by Jurassic World Dominion‘s marketing because it implied that his film was the conclusion of the franchise, although he never saw it as such. Read what the director says below.
“I specifically did something different from the other movies to change the DNA of the franchise. The previous five movies are plots about dinosaurs. This is a story about characters in a world where they coexist with dinosaurs. To move the franchise forward – because it’s inherently not a franchise, there probably should have been only one Jurassic Park – but if we’re going to do it, how can I allow them to tell stories in a world where dinosaurs exist, unlike, is here another reason why we go to an island?
“This film is clearly interested in creating new characters that a new generation will cling to – Kayla Watts [DeWanda Wise], and Mamoudou Athie’s character Ramsay Cole, which I think in the Extended Edition you really feel his purpose in a bigger way. And the character of Dichen Lachman [Soyona Santos], who in the end is simply arrested. There’s more to come.
“I never knew this was the end of the franchise until I saw the marketing. Those guys are brilliant at what they do, but I think it would have been clearer to me if they’d said ‘The end of an era’, unlike anything, because regardless of the cynical approach — they obviously want to make more money, and that’s what Jurassic World was about — a new dinosaur fan is born every day. Kids deserve these movies, and young filmmakers grow up with these stories — just like Peter Pan and The Wizard Of Oz and worlds we’ve constantly returned to.
“What gets me excited is that if a table is set here for another ghost to do what I did to Steven [Spielberg] and sit down and say, ‘Listen, I’ve got an idea,’ I’d like that person to sit with me or Steven, and say, ‘I’ve got it!’”
Where can Jurassic Park go after Dominion?
Trevorrow rightly understands that if the… Jurassic World franchise was limited to only the two main islands, then the series would not go anywhere else. This makes his decision to destroy Isla Nublar in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom more understandable. By opening up the dinosaurs to the rest of the world, the franchise not only offers an endless opportunity for new locations to showcase dinosaur legends, but also the chance to showcase characters who would never be in Jurassic Park or even in the first place. Jurassic World had dared. By distancing ourselves from the parks themselves, as well as from the characters who inhabited them, Jurassic World franchise could thrive in the future by focusing on different aspects of its world.
The director specifically mentioned some of Jurassic World Dominionnew characters, such as DeWanda Wise’s loner pilot, Kayla Watts, as the focus for new stories in the franchise. Now that Watts has freed herself from a self-imposed funk by going on one leg to help Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) rescue Maisie, she could play a bigger role in Jurassic Parkfuture by leading an effort to track and transport enemy dinosaurs. Jurassic World Dominion may have opened up the rest of the world to dinosaurs, and now all it takes is a new filmmaker to step in and steer the franchise in a new direction.
Source: Empire
