It’s been a little bit more than thirty years since the original Jurassic Park debuted when Steven Spielberg brought the iconic prehistoric creatures from hundreds of millions of years ago to the big screen of the modern age. The plausible science that could bring dinosaurs back from the dead blew everyone’s minds decades ago, and it’s become a whole movie franchise since (with a spinoff Netflix show, too, to boot), with the last film being last year’s Jurassic World: Dominion, the end of Jurassic World trilogy where all kind of dinosaurs are free to roam over the entire Earth with humans.
Given the less-than-thrilled response to Jurassic World: Dominion, many were left wondering what the future held for the iconic dinosaur franchise. Nobody really assumed it was over as it is one of Universal Pictures’ most profitable franchises, but after so many disappointments, was it one that should continue? No immediate announcement was made, and Universal let the franchise rest for one year before news broke that they were developing a new Jurassic Park movie with original screenwriter David Keopp.
There are billions of reasons why more movies should be made, all of them billions of dollars. But to adapt the famous words of Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm: “You were so preoccupied with whether you could, you didn’t stop to think if you should.” So here’s a look at whether we will have another Jurassic movie and if we should have another in the first place.
Update January 26, 2024: This article has been updated following the news that David Koepp is writing a new Jurassic movie for Universal Pictures.
Jurassic World: Dominion Was Not a Good Final Note
Jurassic World: Dominion was a very disappointing movie. Much like The Rise of Skywalker, its disappointment not only came from just being a bad entry in the franchise but putting the burden on itself to be the final film in a saga. Jurassic World: Dominion actually seemed very uninterested in dinosaurs or even the setup of the previous film. Instead of the big final solution to the dinosaur problem that has been a big issue for decades at this point, the filmmakers decided to center the movie on a one-off character from the first movie who featured a genetically altered locus to eat the world food supply so his company would have the most food. The locus plot in the movie is the most frustrating as the movie didn’t feature or make reference to them at all, clearly selling audiences on dinosaurs but giving them a real bait-and-switch in the end.
There was only a quick dinosaur chase in the middle and one admittedly very cool dinosaur fight at the end. The trilogy capper also didn’t provide any real resolution at all to the big dinosaur roaming-free problem, which was the biggest question on fans’ minds. The film just felt like a C-movie with lots of dinosaurs in the background. The Jurassic World trilogy ultimately failed the whole series, and to end the Jurassic franchise on such an unimpressive and unmemorable low note would be tragic, and the story deserves a better, more fitting ending than Jurassic Park: Dominion.
The World Has Dinosaurs Running Around
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ends with the dinosaur clones freed from prison and released into the unsuspecting world. We see that the dinosaurs have infiltrated every aspect of life, as farmers still have to grow crops with giants weighing several tons walking all over their fields, and campers are terrorized by a deadly Tyrannosaurus rex.
That looked like a very interesting starting point for the next film, as it was something the franchise had never dealt with before. After years of finding excuses for people to go to the island of dinosaurs, now there were so many possibilities with dinosaurs on the mainland. Many believed that Jurassic World: Dominion would be an ending of sorts for the franchise, as the deadly dinosaur dilemma has been a serious problem for decades at this point in the story, and given that they were running amok around the world, something would have to be done, something must change at the end.
Unfortunately, nothing did, as the film was very much a non-resolution to the whole issue of dinosaurs alongside man, which was completely forgotten, and the film ends with the fact that we must accept dinosaurs living among us. Leaving audiences with a very unsatisfying ending to the trilogy.
The most exciting premise for the franchise was ignored in favor of reuniting the original cast of characters. This disappointment was highlighted by how great the 2019 short Battle at Big Rock was, which took place shortly after Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and concerned a family who had an encounter with a dinosaur invading their campsite. It was a small-scale horror film that felt fresh and exciting, relying on the new status quo and new characters while also looking at the dinosaurs in a new way. It did everything Jurassic World: Dominion failed to do.
They Need To Rethink Their Approach to the Franchise
The Jurassic story shouldn’t end with Jurassic World: Dominion. That’s not a proper ending for such an iconic and revolutionary franchise. Of course, the next film to come after Jurassic World: Dominion doesn’t have to be the final film of the franchise. Honestly, there doesn’t even need to be a trilogy. The film series could go on as one-off adventures featuring different dinosaurs. Jurassic must adapt, dare we say it, evolve, for audiences to continue caring about the franchise, as the Jurassic World trilogy was seemingly created based on the standard blueprint of the average action blockbuster. Jurassic has to become important again if it is to avoid extinction.
The latest film opened the doors for plenty of future Jurassic projects. Dinosaurs are walking the Earth again, unrestricted! There’s no limit to the potential after such an incredible reality. We could have any project because of this; just throw in some dinosaurs. There’s always the unmade Jurassic Park IV, which would have featured dinosaur-human hybrids.
A government operative must enter the dinosaur black market and learn his way through underground dinosaur fight clubs to take down the gang boss in a spy thriller. Politicians shaping dinosaur policy in political drama get involved with the dinosaur black market and shape the world with prehistoric creatures. It is a mystery where a psychotic killer starts picking off dinosaurs in rapid succession to reestablish humanity’s dominance over the planet. Even a romantic comedy where a group goes on a destination wedding, but the island has dinosaurs. Everything is on the table. The possibilities are endless, so there are plenty of stories for another film.
A New Jurassic World Movie Is Coming
Jurassic Park movies, like life, always find a way. There’s been an announcement that David Koepp, who wrote the first two films in the saga directed by Steven Spielberg, Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park is writing a new film in the franchise. The script is long enough that Universal has confidence this new movie could be on the release docket for 2025, but with no major director or casting news, that seems unlikely.
What would the film be about? As said before, everything is on the table, but right now, only Koepp knows. The fact that the release announcement says it’s a new Jurassic World movie and not a Jurassic Park movie indicates it will take place in Jurassic World: Dominion, and humans and dinosaurs are sharing the world. It seems apparent that Chris Pine and Bryce Dallas Howard are not returning, and that might be for the best. The franchise needs new characters.
Every year, there are new 7-year-olds who fall in love with dinosaurs and parents who once were those 7-year-olds, so the new film will probably be a box-office success, as the franchise has earned more than $6 billion at the cinemas. What might be more interesting is to see if Koepp’s story and the filming of whoever directs it can bring back the feeling of amazement and wonder Steven Spielberg’s original movie brought to its audience.
In the meantime, you can stream the original trilogy Jurassic Park, Lost World: Jurassic Park, and Jurassic Park III on Netflix. The new trilogy has different streaming services for each film. Stream Jurassic World on Max, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom on Amazon Prime, and Jurassic World: Dominion on Peacock Premium.
