Why Colin Trevorrow Didn't Direct Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

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Hollywood really loves a franchise, particularly in the last 20 years. The business has become downright obsessed with keeping a once-beloved series of films alive, often bringing something back that's been dead for several years. Director Colin Trevorrow very successfully brought "Jurassic Park" back to life in 2015 with "Jurassic World." It was, by many measures, as successful as any movie has ever been.

"Jurassic World" made more than $1.6 billion at the box office, becoming one of the biggest movies ever up to that point. Audiences ate it up, and 14 years after the relative disappointment of "Jurassic Park III," the series suddenly had new life. Yet, Trevorrow walked away from the director's chair and didn't return to helm the sequel, which arrived in 2018 in the form of "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom."

"Jurassic Park is like Star Wars. Different directors can give a different taste to each movie," Trevorrow said in a 2015 interview with BadTaste. "I would be involved in some way, but not as director." Trevorrow, along with his writing partner Derek Connolly, ended up writing "Fallen Kingdom," and J.A. Bayona ("The Orphanage") was tapped to direct. As it turns out, Bayona was considered for "Jurassic World" before Trevorrow got the job, so in some ways, it was a full-circle thing.

But the question remains: Why would Trevorrow walk away from something that became so massively successful? Particularly since he had only directed the low-budget "Safety Not Guaranteed" up to that point. The filmmaker certainly had his reasons.

Trevorrow, along with "Jurassic Park" director Steven Spielberg, actually outlined an entire "Jurassic World" trilogy in the aftermath of the first film's success. So even though Trevorrow wasn't going to be directing, he had influence over the direction of the story. But that still doesn't explain why he left behind what would have been a slam dunk gig. Universal Pictures surely would have been happy to have him back, and Spielberg helped pick him out personally in the first place.

"Part of the job and part of what Steven asked me to do is to build something that built a foundation that could be expanded upon," Trevorrow explained to /Film in a June 2015 interview. "I think I should make it very clear to readers of /Film, and there's a lot of people who read your website who I think when you hear that someone where I'm at right now would choose not to continue with this franchise, you're gonna think one of three things. Either I did a bad job [and] the movie sucks, they had a bad experience with me, or I had a bad experience doing the movie. None of those things are true."

So, what was it, exactly? Trevorrow went on to explain that he had a very positive experience making the first movie — so much so that he felt coming back for "Jurassic World 2" could only serve to taint the experience:

"This was such a positive experience for me. I loved it so much. Arguably because I loved it so much I don't see how I could have a better experience making a dinosaur movie. I'm not sure how I could make a dinosaur movie that gives any more than I gave to this movie. It is part of my responsibility to make sure that there aren't diminishing returns in the future and that it can expand into something that continues to be worthy of its name."

"That decision for me not to direct another one — I will be creatively involved, but to not to direct — that actually happened a long time ago," Trevorrow added at the time.

One of the biggest reasons why Trevorrow ended up not directing "Fallen Kingdom" had to do with the fact that he wanted to make other movies. "I feel a responsibility to myself as a filmmaker to make different kinds of films," he said in that same 2015 /Film interview. "It's not that I wanna just go make personal films and never make big franchise movies again, I love big franchise movies."

To that end, it was announced later in 2015 that he was going to direct "Star Wars" Episode IX, concluding the sequel trilogy that had started with J.J. Abrams' "The Force Awakens." A job that big wouldn't leave room for him to direct another "Jurassic" sequel as well.

Unfortunately for Trevorrow, he departed "Star Wars" Episode IX in 2017 after creative clashes behind the scenes with Lucasfilm. The version of the film we got, "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," diverted greatly from Trevorrow's version, titled "Duel of the Fates," as proved when the script eventually leaked online.

But that situation paved the way for Trevorrow to return and finish what he started. Months later, it was confirmed that he would direct the third installment in the "Jurassic World" trilogy, which we would come to know as "Jurassic World Dominion." In a 2021 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Trevorrow explained why he decided to return to direct the third installment:

"It's because I love it. I don't really have a better answer than that. I've been very fortunate to be involved in a lot of different kinds of stories, and after working with J.A. on the last film, that was inspiring for me in its own way, to see how another filmmaker interpreted that middle chapter of the story. I was genuinely moved by the experience. I was going through a tough time myself. So to dive back into this world of dinosaurs with another filmmaker and make something we believed in, it made me want to finish what we started."

"Dominion" was a big financial success but was met with the worst reviews of any of the "Jurassic World" movies. The series will continue, albeit without Trevorrow, beginning with this summer's "Jurassic World Rebirth," which will focus on new characters in a new setting. 

You can grab the "Jurassic World" trilogy on 4K from Amazon.