Unless you were living under a rock 2014, chances are you were one of the hundreds of millions of people that went to see the Jurassic Park reboot Jurassic World in the cinema, or watched it on home video ever since.
The massive blockbuster rekindled the world’s love for dinosaurs that had gone extinct after 2001’s mostly disappointing Jurassic Park III, and brought the franchise back to life with a record breaking box office of 1.672 billion.
The Jurassic franchise began with 1993’s Steven Spielberg directed Jurassic Park, based on the novels by acclaimed author Michael Crichton. An immediate hit and worldwide sensation, Jurassic not only spanned a whole franchise of movies after it, but also dozens of toys and merchandise collections. Jurassic even received its own video and slot games, just like many other film franchises have throughout the years.
While Jurassic World received mixed reviews from professional critics, audiences embraced it and its charismatic new leads Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard wholeheartedly, and all but guaranteeing a sequel thanks to its unexpected box office tally.
Jurassic World Mania Begins
Thanks to the previous entry’s success, Universal Pictures- the studio behind the franchise – has spared no expense in marketing the much-hyped sequel, even going as far as paying for a Super Bowl spot to premiere the movie’s second trailer.
Jurassic World’s first full trailer premiered in December last year and served mainly to set the scene as to where all of our heroes are 4 years after the collapse of Jurassic World. The trailer revealed the films plot centers around Owen Grady (Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Dallas Howard)’s mission to return to the ruins of the abandoned park to save the remaining dinosaurs, as Nublar Island’s long dormant volcano threatens to erupt and render all dinosaurs in the island extinct again. The trailer also hints at a conspiracy that is bound to reveal some dark secrets about the park’s inception.
Video Source: Youtube.com
But perhaps the most exciting reveal in the first trailer was the return of Jeff Goldblum as fan favorite from the original trilogy Dr. Ian Malcolm. Malcolm, as is expected after what he lived through in the first two movies of the series, is seen arguing against the idea of any rescue mission that would bring dinosaurs back to populated areas – an idea that went horribly awry in the original sequel The Lost World.
The second trailer debuted during the Super Bowl and it was certainly up to the occasion, showing us chilling images of a new hybrid breed of dinosaur’s claws tapping on the floor of a little girl’s bedroom. Since the park has been shut down for years, it is safe to assume that the second half of the movie will actually take place in populated areas.
Most recently, a pseudo informational video was released in which Claire Dearing explains to children and the viewer about the Dinosaur Protection Group’s efforts in saving the dinosaurs. Meant to sound like an animal right group’s video about saving any real species in danger of extinction, the video quickly went viral and managed to create even more hype around the movie’s release.
Video Source: Youtube.com
J.A Bayona takes the helm
While he did a fantastic job in the previous film, Colin Trevorrow preferred to pass on the baton to a new director for sequel, handpicking J.A. Bayona himself as his successor.
“[Jurassic World 2] will be more suspenseful and scary, it’s just the way it’s designed; it’s the way the story plays out” Trevorrow told Jurassic Outpost. “ I knew I wanted Bayona to direct it long before anyone ever heard that was a possibility, so the whole thing was just built around his skill set.”
Considering Bayona’s skill set in creating suspense and terror was showcased in such films the terrifying Spanish horror film The Orphanage, disaster film The Impossible, and dark fantasy drama A Monster Calls; it seems like Bayona has exactly what it takes to helm the next chapter in the successful sci-fi series. While he may not have any experience with blockbusters featuring massive budgets before taking on this role, neither did Trevorrow and that did not stop him from creating a hugely winning entry.
Can Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom carry on the torch?
While the trailers have only revealed a small part of the plot and tone of the movie, it has already been enough to get fans excited for its release come June. There are no expectations to learn more details about the film until its release, which makes it hard to really know what to expect or whether it will be another home run like its predecessor.
Trevorrow has also hinted that while there will be plenty of action and adventure in the upcoming sequel, the real heart of the movie will lie in mankind acknowledging and coming to terms with their role and responsibility to the species it has brought back from extinction:
“It will get to be a different kind of film. The audience has given us permission to a certain extent to take this to the next level, and I don’t necessarily mean in scale, I feel very strongly that it’s not about more dinosaurs or bigger and better dinosaurs, it’s about using this as a starting point for a much larger story about our relationship with these animals and about animals in general, and the dynamic created by bringing them back to life.”
If the film can indeed manage to tackle on these themes with the correct amount of sophistication while still providing plenty of suspense and spectacle, Universal might just have another Jurassic hit on their hands.
Jurassic World 2 release date: June 7, 2018 (UK)/June 22, 2018 (US)
Director: J.A. Bayona
Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, BD Wong, Toby Jones, Rafe Spall, and Jeff Goldblum
Writers: Colin Trevorrow, Derek Connolly
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