Jurassic World Sequel Due in 2018 With Pratt and Howard Returning

Universal Pictures

I guess Universal was just waiting for Jurassic World to hit the #3 position on the all-time worldwide box office chart (not adjusted for inflation) before announcing the expected follow-up. I’m still hoping the studio decides to either one day do a crossover with the Jurassic and the Fast and the Furious franchises or just adapt the comic book “Xenozoic Tales,” but for now we’re getting a fourth Jurassic Park sequel, which will arrive June 22, 2018 (almost exactly three years from the latest’s release), and Jurassic World leads Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are both set to return.

With them reprising their respective roles as dino-trainer Owen and awful dino-park manager Claire, this does definitely feel like it could just be considered Jurassic World 2 rather than Jurassic Park 5. Previously we never really saw the original combination of leads return to the franchise. We eventually saw Sam Neill and Laura Dern in the same movie, Jurassic Park III, but not sharing the screen together. We can assume Pratt and Howard (and her heels) will both be major characters once again.

Not returning in full capacity is director Colin Trevorrow. He is writing the screenplay, however, with Derek Connolly.What will that screenplay entail? Many speculations have suggested a continuation of the concept of using dinosaurs as weapons of war. Another idea based on Jurassic World viral video clues is that it would be set in Siberia and involve Mammoths. Many fans would like to see the next installment set in space.

Here’s where I think it should logically go: to Isla Sorna and then to San Diego. Yes, that’s exactly what we saw in the first sequel, The Lost World: Jurassic Park. But Jurassic World is all a beat-for-beat redo of Jurassic Park, so why not keep the idea going. It earned more than a billion dollars, after all. Little things will be different, of course, and bigger. Instead of a gymnast girl we meet Pratt’s illegitimate daughter, who is a star volleyball player. And at one point she spikes a giant rock at a dino threat. And okay, maybe the climax is New York City instead of San Diego. An Indominus Rex climbs the new Freedom Tower.

Okay enough giving the guys free ideas (for more, come find me with your wallet open).

Christopher Campbell: Christopher Campbell began writing film criticism and covering film festivals for a zine called Read, back when a zine could actually get you Sundance press credentials. He's now a Senior Editor at FSR and the founding editor of our sister site Nonfics. He also regularly contributes to Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes and is the President of the Critics Choice Association's Documentary Branch.
Related Articles
  1. ‘Invincible’ Season 2 Is Aggressively Just Okay
  2. ‘Fellow Travelers’ is Phenomenal, As Is Jonathan Bailey
  3. All the Horror You Need to Stream in November 2023
  4. 12 Movies to Watch if You Like ‘When Evil Lurks’
  5. 10 Best Horror Movies That Rip Off Better Movies
  6. 31 Best Slashers, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Blade
Recent Articles
  1. ‘Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever’ Suggests Terror and Trauma Might Be Too
  2. ‘Force of Nature’ Sees Bad Weather and Worse Intentions Lead to Mystery
  3. 24 Things We Learned from Roger Corman’s ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ Commentary
  4. Our Pick of the Week Has an Appointment with Death at ‘High Noon’
  5. 28 Things We Learned from David Leitch’s ‘Bullet Train’ Commentary
  6. Best Action Movies of 2024, So Far

Recently Published