MOVIE NEWS

Jurassic World: What We

Know So Far
BY SEAN O'CONNELL

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Get ready to feel old. Twenty-four years have

passed since Michael Crichton published his
bestselling novel, Jurassic Park. Steven Spielbergs
1993 adaptation of Crichtons book recently
celebrated its 20th anniversary with a 3D re-release.
And the last time you were able to see a Jurassic
Park movie in theaters before that was 2001. That all
changes right now.
Universal is bringing the mighty dinosaurs of
the Jurassic franchise back to life for a new
installment in the ongoing series. Expect a lot of
changes on screen, however, for Jurassic World.
Very few original players from the initial franchise
are coming back, as far as we know. (We see
you, B.D. Wong!) The pieces have fallen into place
on the fourth movie, so we figured we would dig
into Jurassic World and fill you in on all of the latest
details.

For now, lets extract DNA from the frozen

specimens of Jurassic World news and tell you what
we know so far.

The Numerous False Starts

As far back as 2009, we were running stories about
a fourth Jurassic movie, even as the sequel toiled
away in development hell. Original Jurassic
Park helmer Steven Spielberg had the sequel on his
calendar. Jurassic Park III director Joe Johnstonhad
real ideas about where he wanted the series to go.
The sequel, as we know it, finally got fast-tracked
for real in January 2013, when Universal Studio
said the wheels were turning toward a release. We
initially entertained a 2014 date, but
Universal officially circled June 12, which means we
are weeks away from the opening of a new park!

The Director
Spielberg never planned to come back. When
Johnston passed on the opportunity to once again
helm a dinosaur thriller, Universal started fishing for
worthy replacements. They landed on Colin

Trevorrow, a relative newcomer who made a name

for himself (to a certain extent) with the shaggy-dog
time travel romanceSafety Not Guaranteed, with
Aubrey Plaza, Jake Johnson and Mark Duplass. I
say "to a certain extent" because
while Safety charmed the film-festival circuit, it didnt
necessarily turn Trevorrow into a household
name. Jurassic World still needed star power.

Chris Pratt
Jurassic Park had Sam Neill (who returned for part
three). The Lost World had Jeff Goldblum. Trevorrow
needed a rugged leading man for Jurassic World.
He finally settled on the busiest man in show
business at the moment, Star-Lord himself: Chris
Pratt. The charismatic young actor is coming off
turns in the massively successfulThe LEGO Movie,
where he voiced the main character, Emmet. Oh
yeah, then Pratt was the star (and Star-Lord) of
Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy, which happened
to be one of the highest-grossing films of 2014. Pratt
will play Owen, a trainer in the new, Disney Worldesque Jurassic World whos abilities to communicate
with dinos is tested by a hybrid genetic concoction
that goes rogue and begins killing for sport. Now,

who could have predicted such shenanigans at a

dinosaur park? ddfghjk