The Sun Sets on Jurassic Park With its Final Film "Jurassic World Dominion"

jmpblodgett
Jun 17, 2022
12 min read

It all began in 1990 when Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment bought the rights to the novel "Jurassic Park" by Michael Crichton prior to its publishing.

The book was successful, as was Steven Spielberg's 1993 film adaptation. Thus - The film received a theatrical 3D re-release in 2013, and was selected in 2018 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

A 1995 sequel novel, The Lost World, was followed by a film adaptation in 1997. Subsequent films in the series, including Jurassic Park III(2001), are not based on the novels.

In 2015, a second trilogy of films began with the fourth film in the series, Jurassic World. The film was successful, becoming the first film to gross over $500 million worldwide in its opening weekend, and grossed over $1.6 billion through the course of its theatrical run, making it the third highest-grossing film at the time.

When adjusted for monetary inflation, Jurassic World is the second highest-grossing film in the franchise after Jurassic Park. A sequel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide, making it the third Jurassic film to pass the billion dollar mark. It is the third highest-grossing film of 2018 and the 13th highest-grossing film of all time. The final film in the trilogy, Jurassic World Dominion, is scheduled to be released on June 9th, 2022.

Numerous video games and comic books based on the franchise have been created since the release of the 1993 film, and several water rides have been opened at various Universal Studios theme parks. Lego has produced several animated projects based on the Jurassic World films, including a miniseries released in 2019. DreamWorks Animation and Netflix released an animated series called Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous in September 2020. As of 2000 the franchise had generated $5 billion in revenue making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.

The Jurassic Park Trilogy that took place between 1993-2001. The series follows:

Jurassic Park (1993)

John Hammond (played by Richard Attenborough) is the owner of Jurassic Park, a theme park located on Isla Nublar. After an incident with a velociraptor, Hammond brings in three specialists to sign off on the park to calm investors.

The specialists, paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill), paleobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and chaos theorist Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) are surprised to see the island park's main attraction are living, breathing dinosaurs, created with a mixture of fossilized DNA and genetic cross-breeding/cloning. When lead programmer Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) turns off the park's power to sneak out with samples of the dinosaur embryos to sell to a corporate rival, the dinosaurs break free, and the survivors are forced to find a way to turn the power back on and make it out alive. The film also stars Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero, BD Wong, Ariana Richards, Joseph Mazzello, and Samuel L. Jackson.

Spielberg cited Godzilla as an inspiration for Jurassic Park, specifically Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), which he grew up watching. During production, Spielberg described Godzilla as "the most masterful of all the dinosaur movies because it made you believe it was really happening".

Jurassic Park is regarded as a landmark in the use of computer-generated imagery and received positive reviews from critics, who praised the effects, though reactions to other elements of the picture, such as character development, were mixed.

During its release, the film grossed more than $914 million worldwide, becoming the most successful film released up to that time (surpassing E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and surpassed 4 years later by Titanic), and it is currently the 17th highest grossing feature film (taking inflation into account, it is the 20th-highest-grossing film in North America). It is the most financially successful film for NBCUniversal and Steven Spielberg.

Recently, Jurassic Park has been proposed to be recognized as Intangible Geoheritage due to its cultural impact on the people's views about dinosaurs, including a change in the popular iconography of carnivorous dinosaurs.

Jurassic Park had two re-releases: The first on September 23, 2011, in the United Kingdom and the second in which it was converted into 3D on April 5, 2013, for its 20th anniversary, which resulted in the film passing the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

Before The Lost World was published, a film adaptation was already in pre-production, with its release occurring in May 1997.

The film was a commercial success, breaking many box-office records when released. The film had mixed reviews, similar to its predecessor in terms of characterization. Much like the first film, The Lost World: Jurassic Park made a number of changes to the plot and characters from the book, replacing the corporate rivals with an internal power struggle and changing the roles or characterizations of several protagonists.

When a vacationing family stumbles upon the dinosaurs of Isla Sorna, a secondary island where the animals were bred en masse and allowed to grow before being transported to the park, Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) is called in by John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) to lead a team to document the island to turn it into a preserve, where the animals can roam free without interference from the outside world. Malcolm agrees to go when he discovers his girlfriend, paleontologist Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore) is already on the island, while at the same time Hammond's nephew, Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard), has taken over his uncle's company and leads a team of hunters to capture the creatures and bring them back to a theme park in San Diego. The two groups clash and are ultimately forced to work together to evade the predatory creatures and survive the second island. The film also stars Pete Postlethwaite, Richard Schiff, Vince Vaughn, Vanessa Lee Chester, Peter Stormare, and a young Camilla Belle.

Jurassic Park III (2001)

Joe Johnston had been interested in directing the sequel to Jurassic Park and approached his friend Steven Spielberg about the project. While Spielberg wanted to direct the first sequel, he agreed that if there was ever a third film, Johnston could direct.[42] Spielberg, nevertheless, stayed involved in this film by becoming its executive producer. Production began on August 30, 2000,[43] with filming in California, and the Hawaiian islands of Kauai, Oahu, and Molokai.[44] It is the first Jurassic Park film not to be based on a novel, although it does incorporate some unused plot elements from the Crichton novels, such as the river escape and the pterosaur aviary. The film was a financial success but received mixed reviews from critics.

When their son goes missing while parasailing at Isla Sorna, the Kirbys (William H. Macy and Téa Leoni) hire Alan Grant (Sam Neill) under false pretenses to help them navigate the island. Believing it to be nothing more than sight-seeing, and that he will act as a dinosaur guide from the safety of their plane, he is startled to find them landing on the ground, where they are stalked by a Spinosaurus, which destroys their plane. As they search for the Kirbys' son, the situation grows dire as Velociraptors hunt their group and they must find a way off the island. The film also stars Alessandro Nivola, Michael Jeter, Trevor Morgan, Mark Harelik, and Laura Dern.

This lead to the current Jurassic World Trilogy:

Jurassic World (2015)

Steven Spielberg devised a story idea for a fourth film in 2001, during production of Jurassic Park III. In 2002, William Monahan was hired to write the script, with the film's release scheduled for 2005. Early aspects of the plot included dinosaurs escaping to the mainland, and an army of genetically modified dinosaur-human mercenaries. Monahan finished the first draft of the script in 2003. Sam Neill and Richard Attenborough were set to reprise their characters, while Keira Knightley was in talks for two separate roles. In 2004, John Sayles wrote two drafts of the script. Sayles' first draft involved a team of Deinonychus being trained for use in rescue missions.

Both drafts were scrapped, and a new script was being worked on in 2006. Laura Dern was contacted to reprise her role, with the film expected for release in 2008. The film was further delayed by the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. Mark Protosevich wrote two film treatments in 2011, which were rejected.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver were hired in 2012 to write an early draft of the script. In 2013, Colin Trevorrow was announced as a director and co-writer, with the film scheduled for release on June 12, 2015. The film was shot in Univisium 2.00:1, and received generally positive reviews.

The film features a new park, Jurassic World, built on the remains of the original park on Isla Nublar. The film sees the park run by Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan) and Masrani Corp, and features the return of Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong) from the first film. Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Jake Johnson star, while Vincent D'Onofrio portrayed the main antagonist, Vic Hoskins. The cast also includes Lauren Lapkus, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Omar Sy, and Judy Greer. The primary dinosaur antagonist is Indominus rex, a genetically-modified hybrid of Tyrannosaurus rex and several other species, including Velociraptor, cuttlefish, tree frog, and pit viper.

The Indominus Rex also features a chameleon-like camouflage ability, which was a plot element from the second Crichton novel unused in previous films.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

A sequel to Jurassic World was released on June 22, 2018. The film was directed by J. A. Bayona and written by Trevorrow and Connolly, with Trevorrow and Spielberg as executive producers. The film stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, James Cromwell, Toby Jones, Ted Levine, BD Wong, Isabella Sermon, and Geraldine Chaplin, with Jeff Goldblum reprising his role as Dr. Ian Malcolm.

During early conversations on Jurassic World, Spielberg told Trevorrow that he was interested in having several more films made. In April 2014, Trevorrow announced that sequels to Jurassic World had been discussed: "We wanted to create something that would be a little bit less arbitrary and episodic, and something that could potentially arc into a series that would feel like a complete story". Trevorrow, who said he would direct the film if asked, later told Spielberg that he would only focus on directing one film in the series. Trevorrow believed that different directors could bring different qualities to future films. Bayona was once considered to direct Jurassic World, but he declined as he felt there was not enough time for production. Filming took place from February to July 2017, in the United Kingdom and Hawaii.

Former Jurassic World manager Claire Dearing and Velociraptor handler Owen Grady join a mission to rescue Isla Nublar's dinosaurs from a volcanic eruption by relocating them to a new island sanctuary. They discover that the mission is part of a scheme to sell the captured dinosaurs on the black market in order to fund his party's genetic research. The captured dinosaurs are brought to an estate in northern California, where several of the creatures are auctioned and subsequently shipped to their new owners.

A new hybrid dinosaur, the Indoraptor (one of the primary antagonists of the film), escapes and terrorizes people at the estate, forcing Owen and Claire to survive the chaos and rampage in the estate. There's also a subplot about human cloning. Fallen Kingdom, similar to the second installment, The Lost World, re-explores the themes about the aftermath of dinosaur park's demise on Isla Nublar and dinosaurs being used for exploitation by humans, like exploiting them for militaristic applications and other uses.

We then head into the newest film.

Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

Jurassic World Dominion is scheduled for release on June 10, 2022. It was directed by Trevorrow, with a screenplay written by him and Emily Carmichael, based on a story by Trevorrow and Connolly. Trevorrow and Spielberg serve as executive producers for the film, with Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley as producers.

The film stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, returning from the previous Jurassic World films. Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum also reprise their characters for major roles, marking the trio's first film appearance together since the original Jurassic Park film. In addition, Daniella Pineda, Justice Smith, Isabella Sermon, and Omar Sy reprise their roles from the previous two films. Other actors include Mamoudou Athie, DeWanda Wise,Dichen Lachman, and Scott Haze.

Campbell Scott will be portraying the character Lewis Dodgson from the first film, originally played by Cameron Thor.

Planning for the film dates to 2014. Trevorrow and Carmichael were writing the script as of April 2018. Trevorrow said the film would focus on the dinosaurs that went open source after being sold and spread around the world in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, allowing people other than Dr. Henry Wu to create their own dinosaurs.

Trevorrow stated that the film would be set around the world, and said that the idea of Henry Wu being the only person who knows how to create a dinosaur was far-fetched "after 30 years of this technology existing" within the films' universe.

Additionally, the film would focus on the dinosaurs that were freed at the end of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, but it would not depict dinosaurs terrorizing cities and going to war against humans; Trevorrow considered such ideas unrealistic.

Instead, Trevorrow was interested in a world where "dinosaur interaction is unlikely but possible—the same way we watch out for bears or sharks". Certain scenes and ideas regarding the integration of dinosaurs into the world were ultimately removed from the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom script to be saved for the third film.

Filming locations included Canada, England's Pinewood Studios, and the country of Malta. Jurassic World Dominion began filming in February 2020, but was put on hiatus several weeks later as a safety precaution due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Production later resumed that July, with numerous health precautions in place, including COVID-19 testing and social distancing. Filming wrapped four months later.

Now, the film earned nearly $150 million in its opening weekend while only receiving a 30% on Rotten Tomatoes. This review makes the film the lowest scored film out of the previous five. Dominion's lack of dino-centric action, and a truly bizarre choice to make some other creepy animal its main baddie contributed highly to the films downfall.

“Dominion” frustrates because it arrives at a moment when the global film industry needs every type of movie that contributes to the broader ecosystem to thrive, and instead it provides a reminder of why the system keeps shooting itself in the foot. Most of Dominion's plot is left to the audiences imagination, ultimately leading the locust's to light on fire and burn down the whole kingdom without the audience gaining any understanding to how the locust's beat out Dinosaurs in a movie supposedly to be about dinosaurs.

Even the villain of the film, Lewis Dodgson, gets murdered by a swarm of Dilophosauruses. Which was a symbolic conclusion to his life as it is the same ending that fell on Dennis Nedry in the prior original films.

This movie came in the midst of the latest season of “Stranger Things,” which reportedly cost $30 million per episode. You can see the money on the screen, but not the substance, which is stretched out like silly putty to feature length in almost every episode. As long as we’ve had cinema, we’ve had special effects, and the potential to amaze audiences with narratives built around them. But at some point, this potential was equated with costliness, and the ability to throw money at the screen mucks up any question — or concern — about what’s being put there in the first place.

“Jurassic World Dominion”—Universal Pictures has gone to great lengths to make sure critics don’t add a pesky colon to the title—is supposed to be the culmination of decades of world-building. This sixth installment is being billed as a thrilling adventure, a trip to a world where dinosaurs now roam free for the first time in millions of years, yet for much of its bloated two-and-a-half-hour runtime, dinosaurs are absent from the core narrative.

The most notable node in the film is when they had a dinosaur step inside of a circle giving a node to the films symbol. As seen below. This occurs during a battle between a t-rex and the giganotosaurus. The t-rex ultimately won with the help of a distraction from the team.

Another notable aspect of the film is when the team comes together at the end of the film. Dominion opts to take this opportunity to parreoll earlier films. When Claire and Ellie have to adjust to the sanctuaries power in a dark hall the movie is reflecting that of "Jurassic Park's" power shed.

During the film Ellie reveals her children (first seen in Jurassic Park III) are grown, and she is divorced from her husband. This leads to a sub-arc of her and Grant.

Now, The film series is heading to TV with its spinoff "Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous." Evidently the series will answer one major mystery " how the fake Barbasol shaving cream can full of dinosaur embryos fell back into the hands of Lewis Dodgson, the minor Jurassic Park character who got one whole scene in the first movie. Dodgson, originally played by Cameron Thor and later recast with Campbell Scott, was the shady character who offered Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) $1.5 million to steal dinosaur embryos from InGen."

We see in Dominion that shaving cream can come back.

Nedry snuck out some embryos in the modified Barbasol can, but he never returned to Dodgson for his payment because he crashed on his way to the dock before being killed by a dilophosaurus. The can was subsequently buried in the mud amidst the chaos.

However, the latest Jurassic instalment reveals that Dodgson did manage to get his hands on it, and it now sits proudly in his office alongside other mementos such as a dinosaur claw.

When asked how Dodgson managed to retrieve it, Trevorrow teased that this would all be unveiled in Camp Cretaceous' next season.

"If you happen to watch our animated show, Camp Cretaceous, there may be an answer to that in season five, which is coming in July," Season five of the series is set after the events of Fallen Kingdom, but likely takes place before Dominion. If the kids in the show get mixed up with Dodgson's company BioSyn, it could show how the can got from the park to BioSyn Valley. Leaving many of the mysteries that overshadow the recent film solved.

The season 5 trailer can be seen below: