Jurassic World fans rejoice! Battle at Big Rock, a brand new short film set in the franchise’s dino-mite universe, will premiere this Sunday, September 15 on FX. Airing after the station’s broadcast of the Jurassic World, the short will tie directly into the canon of the blockbuster movies.
Comprising two films, with a third on the way, the Jurassic World movies have been a major success for Universal Pictures. The first movie told the somewhat meta story of a reboot of the classic dinosaur theme park featured in the original Jurassic Park trilogy. Having made a safe and successful venture of the cloned dinosaur business after the disaster that crippled John Hammond’s vision so many years ago, Jurassic World opened with the image of families enjoying the new park and the bestial attractions within. However, a dangerous new genetically-engineered dinosaur soon broke out of its pen, wreaking havoc on the park guests and the two heroes played by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. The sequel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, doubled down on the corporate greed formula, introducing an even deadlier dinosaur mutant and setting it loose in suburban America.
Like the two recent films, Battle at Big Rock was directed by Colin Trevorrow. In an interview with Collider, Trevorrow disclosed that it takes place one year after the events of Fallen Kingdom, at Big Rock National Park. A family of four goes camping in the area, and wind up coming face-to-face with the escaped dinosaurs that now inhabit the park. Fans will be excited to learn that two new species will feature into Battle at Big Rock. Nasutoceratops, a close relation to the beloved triceratops, is a quadrupedal herbivore with two, rounded horns above its eyes, similar to those of a Texas longhorn. And Allosaurus, a popular carnivore that was briefly seen as a juvenile in Fallen Kingdom, will take the spotlight and terrify as a full-grown adult.
Battle at Big Rock was written by Trevorrow and Emily Carmichael (Pacific Rim: Uprising), the same writing team behind the upcoming Jurassic World 3. It stars Andre Holland, best known for his performance in Selma, and Natalie Martinez (End of Watch), with breakout performances by child actors Melody Hurd and Pierson Salvador. Immediately after the short’s broadcast premiere, it will be available for streaming on NBC.com, Jurassic World.com, and the official Jurassic World social media channels.
As the plot of Jurassic World 3 is being tightly guarded, there’s no telling if or how the events of Battle at Big Rock will figure into the larger franchise universe. Trevorrow describes the short as depicting “the first major confrontation between dinosaurs and humans” since the animals were set loose at the end of Fallen Kingdom. As such, it stands to reason that Big Rock will serve as a jumping off point to explore the repercussions of an Earth where the two species mingle, no doubt to the violent (but entertaining) detriment of both.
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Source: Collider
