When a film roars all the way to $1.6 billion at the worldwide box office, you can bet your bottom dollar that the studio involved will fast-track development on a sequel to strike while the iron is still piping hot. And sure enough, Universal wasted no time in slating Jurassic World 2 for a June 22, 2018 release, locking down Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and Colin Trevorrow for a second crack at the man-versus-prehistoric-monsters formula – though the latter hasn’t committed to directing just yet. But what of the franchise’s future beyond 2018?
As if there was any doubt, Universal has been dreaming up potential avenues to take the reinvigorated juggernaut in the wake of Jurassic World‘s box office-shaking success. So much so, in fact, that the studio’s chairman Donna Langley revealed that Colin Trevorrow and Steven Spielberg have mapped out early plans for a trilogy at Universal.
[zerg]Appearing on The Hollywood Reporter’s annual executive roundtable, Langley touched base on what we can expect from the series moving forward.
There’s no reason why we should [have trouble]. [Director] Colin Trevorrow is busy working on an outline. He’s been working with Steven [Spielberg]. And they have an idea for the next two movies actually. It was designed as a trilogy, unbeknown to us. It’s a happy surprise.
News of a bona fide trilogy hatching at Universal should come as no surprise. While Trevorrow may have his hands tied with directorial duties Star Wars: Episode IX, the filmmaker has teased us in the past with the potential directions that Jurassic World 2 could explore. Setting aside Bryce Dallas Howard’s choice of footwear, the concept of dinosaur creation going open-source – thus escaping the clutches of the nefarious InGen – is reportedly on the table, which could potentially seed the creation of much more eccentric and dangerous monstrosities than the Indominus Rex.
Again, as Trevorrow has noted in the past, it all circles back to Ian Malcolm’s quote from Spielberg’s original creature feature: “You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could and before you knew what you had, you’d packaged it and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox and now you want to sell it.” Just imagine his thoughts on open-source dinosaur creation!
Jurassic World 2 is slated for debut on June 22, 2018. As we gear up for the sequel’s arrival over the next few years, we’ll no doubt learn much more about its by-now inevitable successor.