We'll Take A Jurassic World Movie Set Entirely In The Past, Thank You Very Much
While we still have yet to get a trailer for "Jurassic World Dominion," the third entry in the current trilogy and the sixth movie in the franchise overall, we did recently get a five-minute prologue that gave us some idea of what to expect from the upcoming blockbuster. It is, to use a word that Jeff Goldblum's Dr. Ian Malcolm is quite fond of, chaos. But it also gives us something that many of us probably didn't expect to see: dinosaurs in the distant past, 65 million years ago.
Universal Pictures enlisted director Colin Trevorrow to film this whole spectacle despite the fact that it won't actually be featured in the movie itself. That, on its own, is a bit peculiar and opens up a whole host of possible questions. Setting that aside for the moment, though, one of the biggest takeaways is that an entire "Jurassic World" movie set in the past, with no humans, is something I would very much like to see. And I have to imagine I'm not alone.
The Simplicity Might Be Just What The Franchise Needs
The first half of the "Jurassic World" prologue plays very much like a nature documentary set in the ancient world. We see lots of dinosaurs in their natural habitats — or our best estimation of what those habitats might have looked like. While there have been some rough CGI moments in the history of the franchise (we're looking at you, seaside dinosaurs in "Jurassic Park III"), this might be some of the most impressive visual effects work not done with animatronics in any "Jurassic" movie yet. That alone would be worth exploring further.
Not only that, but one unique thing is that we are seeing more anatomically correct dinosaurs, with feathers and other distinct visual flares that are probably closer to what science has uncovered since the original "Jurassic Park" was released. Again, another very good reason to get a feature-length version of what I'm going to kindly suggest we title "When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth." For obvious reasons.
But one of the main reasons this might have some juice in the tank is that it could be relatively simple, especially when compared to something like "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" which was, to be polite, complicated. Dinosaurs just being dinosaurs with some sort of narrative to tie it all together could be a refreshing and bold new direction for the series. And looking at something like Genndy Tartakovsky's brilliant animated series "Primal," something along these lines feels possible. Yes, that show does have a human in it, but the utter lack of dialogue coupled with a compelling narrative is what I'm looking at. In any event, the positives far outweigh any negatives here.
Universal Is Already Planning More Jurassic Movies Anyway
Perhaps the biggest reason this is worth considering is that Universal Pictures isn't done with the franchise just yet. Even though many assumed "Jurassic World 3" would be the end of it, it won't be. Producer Frank Marshall, in an interview with Collider in 2020, explained that the forthcoming film will not conclude the series. Rather, it will usher in a new era. Said Marshall:
"It's the start of a new era. The dinosaurs are now on the mainland amongst us, and they will be for quite some time, I hope."
The studio will need to find a new way in beyond this new movie, which appears as though it is going to be big in every sense of the word, with dinosaurs now out in the world among humans. After going to that extreme, it might be refreshing to go all "Planet Earth" about it and just give us dinosaurs being dinosaurs for anywhere between 90 minutes and two hours.
"Jurassic World Dominion" is set to hit theaters on June 10, 2022.