Like witnessing the unmistakable tremor of a T-Rex’s footsteps reverberate in a glass of water, the internet lost its collective mind with the recent announcement that Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum would be returning to their iconic roles in Jurassic World 3. Laura Dern would once again be putting on her cargo shorts as Dr. Ellie Sattler, Sam Neill would be donning his adventure hat as Dr. Alan Grant, and Ian Malcolm would be pulling on his leather jacket for one more foray into the Jurassic Park franchise.
Fans haven’t seen the Big 3 altogether since the original Jurassic Park in the early ’90s. While Jeff Goldblum reprised his role in its sequel, and Sam Neill and Laura Dern appeared in the third film, none of them have so far appeared together in the Jurassic World movies (Goldblum had a small cameo). Read on to find out everything we know about Jurassic Park 3, due to come stomping into theaters in June of 2021!
COLIN TREVORROW IS BACK DIRECTING
While Colin Trevorrow was the man behind the first Jurassic World film, he stepped away from the franchise for the sequel Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which was directed by J.A. Bayona. His absence from the franchise is cited as one of the reasons the second film failed to perform optimally.
Along with directing the film, he’ll be co-writing it with Emily Carmichael, who wrote the first Jurassic World film. He’s described wanting it to be tonally a “science thriller”, more in line with Michael Crichton’s novels, on which the Jurassic Park franchise was originally based.
LAURA DERN IS RETURNING AS DR. ELLIE SATTLER
When we last saw Dr. Ellie Sattler, she appeared for a brief cameo towards the end of Jurassic Park III. She was married, had a baby, and apparently was the only person capable of directing a rescue team to Isla Nublar to locate Dr. Grant and other survivors.
Laura Dern has been in high demand in film and television lately, with her recent role in a large franchise movie (Episode VIII: The Last Jedi) generating lots of buzz. While we don’t yet know the nature of Dr. Sattler’s return, we can guess it will involve her extensive paleontological expertise and possibly repairing her relationship with Dr. Grant.
SAM NEILL IS RETURNING AS DR. ALAN GRANT
Dr. Grant begrudgingly kicked the dust off his boots digging for dinosaur bones as a paleontologist and headed to Isla Sorna in Jurassic Park III. A wealthy businessman persuaded him to do an aerial tour of InGen’s second site of dinosaur breeding operations, without telling him the real purpose of the expedition - to locate his missing son.
Sam Neill has kept busy in films and television ever since the success of the JP franchise, most recently in the hit period series Peaky Blinders. He’s often said he thought Dr. Grant would have long since retired by now, but maybe the threat of dinosaurs back on American soil would force him to reconsider that option.
JEFF GOLDBLUM IS RETURNING AS DR. IAN MALCOLM
Jeff Goldblum already returned as Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park: The Lost World as the main protagonist, and in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, where the Chaos Theory specialist addressed the US Senate about the perils of dinosaurs and humans continuing to coexist in the modern age.
Jeff Goldblum has been steadily working in films since playing Dr. Malcolm, notably for Wes Anderson projects, and will be appearing in the upcoming TV series The World According to Jeff Goldblum. He said he’s wanted a bigger part since his cameo in Fallen Kingdom, and it would appear his wish has been granted.
THE ROLES OF THE “BIG 3” WILL BE MORE THAN CAMEOS
It’s been a rumor around the internet for some time that while Colin Trevorrow was being courted to direct one of the recent Star Wars films, he routinely discussed having a moment where the “Big 3” of that franchise (Luke, Han, and Leia) share a scene, but it never came to pass (and coincidentally, he never directed one of those films).
Perhaps learning from that period of his life, he decided that he’d better get the Big 3 of the JP franchise together for one final film. It seems only natural that the send-off of his portion of the franchise, the Jurassic World trilogy, include the old guard in a major way. According to Trevorrow, they will have substantial roles in Jurassic World 3.
B.D. WONG IS RETURNING AS DR. HENRY WU
Dr. Henry Wu began as a minor character in Jurassic Park, a geneticist and research scientist who primarily focused on the breeding and hatching of the dinosaurs in preparation for opening the theme park. In the books, he had a much larger role, which the Jurassic World films sought to explore.
B.D. Wong has been the main villain (other than the Indominus Rex and the Indoraptor) of the Jurassic World films, ambitiously attempting to make more dangerous dinosaur hybrids. He didn’t get his comeuppance in Fallen Kingdom, so perhaps that will be saved for the epic climax.
THE DINOSAURS ARE STILL RUNNING LOOSE
At the conclusion of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, dozens of dinosaurs were still on the loose. They’d broken free of their cages during an auction where the world’s rich and powerful were in the midst of a bidding war on their genetic samples.
Colin Trevorrow recently made a short film, Jurassic World: Battle at Big Rock showing one of many potential outcomes when the rampant dinosaurs come across a camping ground full of families. While Trevorrow has explained there won’t be any big dinosaurs terrorizing cities like in The Lost World, Americans will have to deal with co-existing with dinosaurs on their home soil.
THERE WON’T BE ANY HYBRID DINOSAURS
As the JP franchise grew, so did its catalog of dinosaurs. With each new film came new dinosaurs. Where first the greatest threat was the Tyrannosaurus Rex in Jurassic Park, then there were two in The Lost World, and finally a Spinosaurus and genetically modified velociraptors in Jurassic Park III.
The Jurassic World films took it one step further and started not just augmenting a single species, but splicing them together, to create hybrid dinosaurs like the Indominus Rex and the Indoraptor. Colin Trevorrow has said there won’t be any hybrids in the third film because he’s taking a more back to basics approach.
CHRIS PRATT IS PUMPED
Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard have inherited the JP franchise from the Big 3, and arguably done a pretty solid job of carrying the torch. Still, all of the nostalgia-laden throughout the Jurassic World films, combined with the appearance of Dr. Malcolm in a cameo, have made fans long to see their favorite JP heroes return.
Pratt took to Twitter recently to express his excitement about the inclusion of Dr. Sattler, Dr. Grant, and Dr. Malcolm in the final film, in what he claims will be the best installment yet, of the biggest movie franchise. We predict him butting heads with a few of them, but making a welcome addition to the Big 3.
IT’S GOING TO BE LIKE JURASSIC PARK
Colin Trevorrow will be the first to admit that the Jurassic World films have gotten a little ahead of themselves. By introducing the concept of the fully operational theme park, along with hybrid dinosaurs, and amped up special effects, they’ve gone far and above Spielberg’s vision in Jurassic Park.
Trevorrow will be the first to admit that he wants the third Jurassic World a paleontological approach film to go “back to basics”, with a more “true to nature” approach, featuring wild dinosaurs (as nature intended, no hybrids need apply!), and that mirrors the backbone of the movie that started it all.
