''Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'' is a 2018
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
action film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
directed by
J. A. Bayona and written by
Derek Connolly
Derek Connolly (born c. 1976 in Miami, Florida) is an American screenwriter and film producer, mostly known for his collaborations with director Colin Trevorrow on the films ''Safety Not Guaranteed'', '' Jurassic World,'' and '' Jurassic World: F ...
and
Colin Trevorrow
Colin Trevorrow (;) is an American filmmaker. He made his feature directorial debut with the science fiction comedy ''Safety Not Guaranteed'' (2012) to critical and commercial success. Trevorrow achieved mainstream recognition for his work on the ...
. The
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
to ''
Jurassic World
''Jurassic World'' is a 2015 American science fiction action film directed by Colin Trevorrow, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Derek Connolly from a story by Jaffa and Silver. It is the first installment in the ...
'' (2015), it is the second installment in the ''Jurassic World'' trilogy and the fifth installment overall in the
''Jurassic Park'' film series.
Chris Pratt
Christopher Michael Pratt (born June 21, 1979) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for playing Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom '' Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015). He also appeared in The WB drama series ''Everwood'' (2002–2006) an ...
,
Bryce Dallas Howard
Bryce Dallas Howard (born March 2, 1981) is an American actress and director. Howard was born in Los Angeles and attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, initially leaving in 2002 to take roles on Broadway but officially graduati ...
,
BD Wong
Bradley Darryl Wong (born October 24, 1960) is an American actor. Wong won a Tony Award for his performance as Song Liling in ''M. Butterfly'', becoming the only actor in Broadway history to receive the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Crit ...
, and
Jeff Goldblum
Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum (; born October 22, 1952) is an American actor and musician. He has starred in some of the highest-grossing films of his era, such as ''Jurassic Park'' (1993) and '' Independence Day'' (1996), as well as their sequels.
...
reprise their roles from previous films in the series, with
Toby Jones
Tobias Edward Heslewood Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 7 September 1966) is an English actor. Jones made his film debut in Sally Potter's period drama ''Orlando'' in 1992. He ...
,
Ted Levine
Frank Theodore Levine (born May 29, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the roles of Buffalo Bill (character), Buffalo Bill in the film ''The Silence of the Lambs (film), The Silence of the Lambs'' (1991) and Leland Stottle ...
, and
Rafe Spall joining the cast. The story follows
Owen Grady
Owen Grady is a fictional character in the ''Jurassic Park'' franchise. He is introduced in the fourth film ''Jurassic World'' (2015), which is also the first installment in the ''Jurassic World'' trilogy. Colin Trevorrow directed and co-wrote the ...
and
Claire Dearing
Claire Dearing is a fictional character in the ''Jurassic Park'' franchise. She is introduced in the fourth film '' Jurassic World'' (2015), which is also the first installment in the ''Jurassic World'' trilogy. Colin Trevorrow directed and co-wrot ...
as they return to the fictional
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
n island of Isla Nublar to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from an impending
volcanic eruption
Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often ...
, only to discover a mercenary team's ulterior motives to bring them to the US mainland.
Filming took place from February to July 2017 in the United Kingdom and in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
. ''Fallen Kingdom'' premiered in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
on May 21, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 22, by
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
. On a budget of $432 million, the film is the
second-most expensive film ever made. The film grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide, making it the third ''Jurassic'' film to pass the billion-dollar mark, and was the
third-highest-grossing film of 2018 and the
12th-highest-grossing film of all time. It received mixed reviews from critics, who generally praised the visuals, cinematography, music and darker tone, while others criticized the screenplay and felt the series had run its course.
A sequel titled ''
Jurassic World Dominion
''Jurassic World Dominion'' is a 2022 American science fiction action film directed by Colin Trevorrow, who co-wrote the screenplay with Emily Carmichael from a story by Derek Connolly and Trevorrow. The sequel to '' Jurassic World: Fallen ...
'' was released in 2022.
Plot
Shortly after the events of ''
Jurassic World
''Jurassic World'' is a 2015 American science fiction action film directed by Colin Trevorrow, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Derek Connolly from a story by Jaffa and Silver. It is the first installment in the ...
'' in 2015, a small mercenary team arrives on the abandoned
Isla Nublar
''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 whe ...
to collect
DNA from the ''
Indominus rex
'' Jurassic Park'', later known as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction adventure media franchise. It focuses on the cloning of dinosaurs through ancient DNA, extracted from mosquitoes that have been fossilized in amber. The franch ...
'' remains in the
lagoon
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...
. After they collect a bone sample, the ''
Mosasaurus
''Mosasaurus'' (; "lizard of the Meuse River") is the type genus (defining example) of the mosasaurs, an extinct group of aquatic squamate reptiles. It lived from about 82 to 66 million years ago during the Campanian and Maastrichtian stages o ...
'' devours their
submersible
A submersible is a small watercraft designed to operate underwater. The term "submersible" is often used to differentiate from other underwater vessels known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully self-sufficient craft, capable of ind ...
. The ''
Tyrannosaurus
''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropoda, theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosa ...
'' (
Rexy
Rexy (Also Roberta) is a fan nickname for a fictional ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' that appears throughout the ''Jurassic Park'' franchise. She first appeared in Michael Crichton's 1990 novel ''Jurassic Park'', and made her onscreen debut in the 1993 f ...
) attacks their
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
, but they manage to escape with the sample, also allowing the ''Mosasaurus'' to escape into the open ocean.
Three years later, a
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
committee debates whether Isla Nublar's dinosaurs should be saved from an impending
volcanic eruption
Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often ...
. Mathematician
Dr. Ian Malcolm
Dr. Ian Malcolm is a fictional character from the '' Jurassic Park'' franchise created by Michael Crichton and portrayed by Jeff Goldblum. Malcolm is a gifted mathematician who specializes in chaos theory. The character was inspired in part by ...
testifies that the dinosaurs should perish naturally to correct the wrongful
cloning
Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, cl ...
done by
John Hammond. Meanwhile, Jurassic World's former operations manager, Claire Dearing, has established the Dinosaur Protection Group to save the animals. After the Senate rules against rescuing the animals, Hammond's former partner,
Sir Benjamin Lockwood, summons Claire to his
Northern California
Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
estate. Lockwood and his aide,
Eli Mills, reveal a plan to relocate the dinosaurs to a new island sanctuary. Claire is needed to reactivate the park's
tracking system
A tracking system, also known as a locating system, is used for the observing of persons or objects on the move and supplying a timely ordered sequence of location data for further processing. It is important to be aware of human tracking, fur ...
to locate the animals, particularly Blue, the last surviving ''
Velociraptor
''Velociraptor'' (; ) is a genus of small dromaeosaurid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous epoch, about 75 million to 71 million years ago. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the pa ...
''. Claire recruits Owen Grady, former ''Velociraptor'' trainer, to help capture her.
On Isla Nublar, Claire and former park technician
Franklin Webb reactivate the online tracking system. Owen, paleo-veterinarian
Zia Rodriguez, and a mercenary team led by
Ken Wheatley, track and find Blue. The encounter escalates, resulting in Blue being shot and Wheatley
tranquilizing Owen. Wheatley then abandons Owen, Claire, and Franklin on the island while forcibly taking Zia hostage to treat Blue. The ship, loaded with captured dinosaurs, departs as the remaining dinosaurs are left behind to die in the eruption. Claire, Franklin, and Owen sneak aboard the ship and help Zia transfuse Blue with ''Tyrannosaurus'' blood to save her life.
Rather than being relocated to a new island, the captured dinosaurs are transported to the Lockwood estate, where Lockwood's orphaned granddaughter,
Maisie
Maisie Ravier is a fictional character, the leading character of ten films (1939–1947) and the radio show ''The Adventures of Maisie'' (broadcast 1945–1947, 1949–1953). She was played by actress Ann Sothern (1909–2001). Eight of the ten ...
, overhears Mills and auctioneer
Mr. Eversoll secretly planning to sell the dinosaurs on the
black market
A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the se ...
. They will also preview the ''
Indoraptor
'' Jurassic Park'', later known as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction adventure media franchise. It focuses on the cloning of dinosaurs through ancient DNA, extracted from mosquitoes that have been fossilized in amber. The franch ...
'', a
weaponized,
transgenic
A transgene is a gene that has been transferred naturally, or by any of a number of genetic engineering techniques, from one organism to another. The introduction of a transgene, in a process known as transgenesis, has the potential to change the ...
dinosaur created by geneticist
Dr. Henry Wu
Dr. Henry Wu is a fictional character in the '' Jurassic Park'' franchise. He is introduced in Michael Crichton's 1990 novel '' Jurassic Park'', which began the franchise. He also appears briefly in the novel's 1993 film adaptation, and plays a ...
using ''Indominus rex'' and ''Velociraptor'' DNA. Wu needs Blue's DNA to create an improved ''Indoraptor'' that is obedient to commands, unaware that Blue's blood is no longer pure. After Maisie informs Lockwood about the auction, he confronts Mills, who murders him. Maisie is later revealed to have been
cloned
Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, c ...
from Lockwood's deceased daughter and the reason why John Hammond ended their association.
The auctioned dinosaurs are being immediately shipped out. Franklin evades capture and frees Zia, but Owen and Claire have been apprehended. Owen incites a ''
Stygimoloch
''Pachycephalosaurus'' (; meaning "thick-headed lizard", from Greek ''pachys-/'' "thick", ''kephale/'' "head" and ''sauros/'' "lizard") is a genus of pachycephalosaurid dinosaurs. The type species, ''P. wyomingensis'', is the only known species, ...
'' into breaking open their cell. The two encounter Maisie, and they learn the ''Indoraptor'' is being sold despite Wu's protests that he is a prototype. Owen disrupts the auction by luring the ''Stygimoloch'' into the room. In the ensuing chaos, Wheatley tranquilizes the ''Indoraptor'' to extract a tooth as a trophy, but the hybrid, having merely feigned unconsciousness, kills Wheatley, along with Eversoll and others as he escapes. He chases Owen, Claire, and Maisie throughout the mansion until Blue, released by Zia, confronts and fights him. After a standoff atop a high glass roof, both animals crash through it, with the ''Indoraptor'' being impaled on the brow horns of a
ceratopsia
Ceratopsia or Ceratopia ( or ; Greek: "horned faces") is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs that thrived in what are now North America, Europe, and Asia, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Jurassic. ...
n skull on display, killing him and leaving the smaller Blue unharmed.
When a
hydrogen cyanide
Hydrogen cyanide, sometimes called prussic acid, is a chemical compound with the formula HCN and structure . It is a colorless, extremely poisonous, and flammable liquid that boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is produced on an ...
gas leak threatens the caged dinosaurs, Claire attempts to free them, only for Owen to convince her not to do so. Maisie, unwilling to let the remaining dinosaurs die, opens the final gate, allowing them to go out into the open. As Mills attempts to escape with the ''Indominus rex'' bone, the ''Tyrannosaurus'' devours him and tramples the bone. Owen, Claire, Maisie, Zia, and Franklin escape, while Blue and the other released dinosaurs flee the estate grounds. In a new U.S. Senate hearing, Dr. Malcolm declares the beginning of a neo-Jurassic Age, where humans and dinosaurs must coexist. The closing scenes depict the freed dinosaurs roaming the wilderness and outer urban areas.
Cast
Production
Development
During early conversations about the 2015 film ''
Jurassic World
''Jurassic World'' is a 2015 American science fiction action film directed by Colin Trevorrow, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Derek Connolly from a story by Jaffa and Silver. It is the first installment in the ...
'', executive producer
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...
told director
Colin Trevorrow
Colin Trevorrow (;) is an American filmmaker. He made his feature directorial debut with the science fiction comedy ''Safety Not Guaranteed'' (2012) to critical and commercial success. Trevorrow achieved mainstream recognition for his work on the ...
that he was interested in having several more films made.
Trevorrow said in 2014 that they wanted to create something "less arbitrary and episodic" that could possibly "arc into a series that would feel like a complete story".
Trevorrow said he would direct the sequel if asked.
[ He later told Spielberg he would only focus on directing one film in the '']Jurassic Park
''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...
'' series,[ and would be involved in the sequel "in some way, but not as director". Trevorrow felt that different directors could bring different qualities to future films. Trevorrow said in June 2015 that he was interested in seeing a ''Jurassic Park'' film made by one of several unnamed Spanish horror film directors. ''Jurassic World'' producer Frank Marshall met with Trevorrow and ]Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
later that month to discuss a sequel.
Trevorrow suggested that the sequel would not involve a dinosaur theme park, as he felt future films could instead explore the idea of dinosaurs and humans co-existing.[ He said the film could involve dinosaurs going ]open source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
, resulting in multiple entities around the world being able to create their own dinosaurs for various uses.
Pre-production
Universal announced a sequel in July 2015, referred to as ''Jurassic World 2'', scheduled for a June 22, 2018 release date in the US. Trevorrow was announced to write the script with his writing partner Derek Connolly
Derek Connolly (born c. 1976 in Miami, Florida) is an American screenwriter and film producer, mostly known for his collaborations with director Colin Trevorrow on the films ''Safety Not Guaranteed'', '' Jurassic World,'' and '' Jurassic World: F ...
, as they had for ''Jurassic World''. It was also announced that the film would be produced by Marshall, and that Spielberg and Trevorrow would act as executive producers, while Chris Pratt
Christopher Michael Pratt (born June 21, 1979) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for playing Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom '' Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015). He also appeared in The WB drama series ''Everwood'' (2002–2006) an ...
and Bryce Dallas Howard
Bryce Dallas Howard (born March 2, 1981) is an American actress and director. Howard was born in Los Angeles and attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, initially leaving in 2002 to take roles on Broadway but officially graduati ...
would reprise their roles from the previous film. Pratt and Howard were paid $8 and $10 million for their involvement, respectively. Unlike its predecessors, Trevorrow said the sequel would not involve "a bunch of dinosaurs chasing people on an island", an idea that he found repetitive. Trevorrow spoke of the film's possible open-source storyline: "It's almost like InGen
Ingen Ryūki () (December 7, 1592 – May 19, 1673) was a Chinese poet, calligrapher, and monk of Linji Chan Buddhism from China.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Ingen" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ' ...
is Mac, but what if PC gets their hands on it? What if there are 15 different entities around the world who can make a dinosaur?"
By October 2015, horror director J. A. Bayona was being considered to direct the film. However, he chose instead to proceed with the ''World War Z'' sequel, a project for which he had already signed on. He dropped out of that project three months later due to other commitments, and was hired as ''Jurassic World 2'' director in April 2016, with Belén Atienza and Patrick Crowley joining Marshall as producers. Spielberg, Marshall, and Kathleen Kennedy had been impressed by Bayona's 2012 film, '' The Impossible'', and initially considered having him direct ''Jurassic World'', which he declined as he felt there was not enough time for production.[ Trevorrow wanted Bayona to direct the sequel after seeing his 2007 horror film, '' The Orphanage''.][
Before he was hired, Bayona had met with Trevorrow and became enthused with the project after being shown the script's second half, which would play out like a haunted house film.] After Bayona was hired, Trevorrow said of the film: "We're moving it into new territory. J. A. Bayona is an incredible director and I know he'll push the boundaries of what a 'Jurassic' movie is. I think it's important that we take risks. A franchise must evolve or perish". Trevorrow and Bayona worked closely throughout the film's production. The film, under the working title
A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...
of ''Ancient Futures'', was in full pre-production as of July 2016, with storyboard
A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, i ...
s being designed. Andy Nicholson
Andy Nicholson (born 13 February 1986) is an English musician, DJ, record producer, and photographer, best known as the original bass guitarist of the Sheffield band Arctic Monkeys, which he left in 2006. In 2008, he founded Mongrel with Jon M ...
was hired as the film's production designer
In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...
.[ He spent four weeks with Bayona in ]Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, discussing reference pictures and background details, as well as Bayona's ideas for the Lockwood mansion.[
For the film's second half where dinosaurs are transported by boat to the mainland, ]Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
and Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
had both been scouted as possible filming locations and settings. Marshall thought that Cabo San Lucas
Cabo San Lucas (, "Saint Luke Cape"), or simply just Cabo, is a resort city at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula, in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. As at the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 202,694 inhabitan ...
would be ideal, but these locations ultimately did not work for the film's story. Although the film would be shot partly in England, Spielberg felt the country was too far from the fictional Isla Nublar to be used as the in-film setting for the second half. He and the producers did not want the film to spend too much time on a boat. Crowley stated: "Rather than making it a movie about traveling on a boat, which is not very exciting, you needed to get to the place".[
In September 2016, Bayona confirmed the film would be the second chapter in a planned ''Jurassic World'' trilogy. Later that year, ''Jurassic World'' composer ]Michael Giacchino
Michael Giacchino (; born October 10, 1967) is an American composer of music for films, television and video games. He has also served as a director for television. He has received many awards, including an Oscar for his work on '' Up'' (2009), a ...
was confirmed to return, while Óscar Faura
Óscar Faura is a Spanish cinematographer.
Career
Faura graduated from ESCAC Film School and has been a cinematographer since 1999, working for both film and advertisement industry. He shot the international hit ''The Orphanage'' (2007), a nom ...
was announced as the film's cinematographer.
Writing
Although Spielberg was heavily involved in the development of ideas for ''Jurassic World'', he had Trevorrow and Connolly devise their own ideas for the sequel. He retained final approval on the project.[ In June 2015, about two weeks after the theatrical release of ''Jurassic World'', Trevorrow embarked on a road trip from Los Angeles to his home state of Vermont.][ Connolly agreed to accompany him so they could discuss a basic set of ideas Trevorrow had for the film.][ During their eight-day trip,] they began work on the script and devised the basic story. Trevorrow said it was inspired by a quote from Dr. Alan Grant
Dr. Alan Grant is a fictional character in the '' Jurassic Park'' franchise. He is a paleontologist and is introduced in Michael Crichton's 1990 novel '' Jurassic Park'', which began the franchise. Crichton based Grant on the paleontologist Jack ...
in the first film
''The First Film'' is a 2015 British documentary film about cinema pioneer Louis Le Prince, made by David Nicholas Wilkinson. It argues the case that Le Prince, rather than the Lumière brothers, was the true inventor of moving pictures, making ...
: "Dinosaurs and man, two species separated by 65 million years of evolution, have suddenly been thrown back into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea of what to expect?" Trevorrow said the story was heavily influenced by the idea that "a mistake made a long time ago just can't be undone".[ He also said the film deals with themes of political ]megalomania
Megalomania is an obsession with power and wealth, and a passion for grand schemes.
Megalomania or megalomaniac may also refer to:
Psychology
* Narcissistic personality disorder
* Grandiose delusions
* Omnipotence (psychoanalysis), a stage of ...
, greed, and "making decisions with lack of care for how it affects people's lives".[
The film is also based on concepts from ]Michael Crichton
John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavily feature tech ...
's novel ''Jurassic Park
''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...
'' (1990) and its sequel ''The Lost World
The lost world is a subgenre of the fantasy or science fiction genres that involves the discovery of an unknown Earth civilization. It began as a subgenre of the late- Victorian adventure romance and remains popular into the 21st century.
The g ...
'' (1995), and includes dialogue from the first novel.[ Isla Nublar's volcano is in the first novel, and the writers chose to incorporate it into the film's plot. Trevorrow compared the destruction of Isla Nublar to "the burning down of a church or a temple. I honestly think it's like killing off a character in a way, and if you're going to do that, as long as you approach it with the proper respect and acknowledgement that you understand how indelible and permanent what you're doing is, then hopefully people will have an emotional response but they won't hate you for it".][ The idea to include a "silent partner" for John Hammond was also inspired by the ''Jurassic Park'' novel.][ Although the character of Benjamin Lockwood was not featured in the novel, the book depicts the early years leading up to the cloning of dinosaurs.][ This made Trevorrow realize there would have been many people involved in such a project, convincing him that someone like Lockwood would be among those people.][
In his initial ]film treatment
A film treatment (or simply treatment) is a piece of prose, typically the step between scene cards (index cards) and the first draft of a screenplay for a motion picture, television program, or radio play. It is generally longer and more detailed ...
, Trevorrow had included story elements that Marshall and Crowley considered excessive for a single film. The producers felt it was important to include details about Owen and Claire's lives after the events of ''Jurassic World''. Although the original ending was the same as the final film, Trevorrow had wanted to include more details about the integration of dinosaurs into the world. He chose to remove them to keep the story focused. The script's structure, Trevorrow said, was inspired by Spielberg's 2015 film '' Bridge of Spies'', in which two seemingly unrelated stories "collide in the middle, and move on together".[ Trevorrow was also inspired by the 1975 film '']Three Days of the Condor
''Three Days of the Condor'' is a 1975 American political thriller film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, and Max von Sydow. The screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and David Rayfiel was based on ...
'': "It's one of those places where you think you know what the score is, and then everything changes, and then suddenly you don't know who to trust". The film includes ideas previously featured in a rejected 2004 draft for ''Jurassic Park IV'' (later ''Jurassic World''), presented in the same structure: a return to Isla Nublar followed by a second half set in a large Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
building on the mainland. The idea of selling weaponized dinosaurs was also in the rejected draft, which Trevorrow had read while writing the first ''Jurassic World'' film. The idea of weaponized dinosaurs came from Spielberg.[ Having directed ''Jurassic World'', Trevorrow was familiar with how ]animatronics
Animatronics refers to mechatronic puppets. They are a modern variant of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films and in theme park attractions.
It is a multidisciplinary field integrating puppetry, anatomy a ...
worked and wrote scenes for the sequel that would allow for their use. For example, animatronics are incapable of certain actions such as running.
Regarding the idea of human cloning
Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy (or clone) of a human. The term is generally used to refer to artificial human cloning, which is the reproduction of human cells and tissue. It does not refer to the natural concepti ...
, Trevorrow said that "we're so much closer to cloning humans than we are to cloning dinosaurs. It felt like far less of a leap to me than dinosaurs do. ..To have a character who has such deep love and has felt such loss and the inability to go on, I think is something we all feel. So the idea that you might be able to bring someone back in that way is emotionally grounded in a very universal idea". Trevorrow also said he was interested in "the larger impact" of genetic power, including its emotional impact and its potential human impact. He added, "we knew that we didn't want to continue to make movies about the dangers of messing with science. We want to tell a story about where we are now, which is that we ''have'' messed with science, we ''have'' fundamentally altered our world and now we're dealing with the consequences". Trevorrow was nervous about how audiences would react to the story's human cloning aspect, an idea supported by Spielberg, who was excited about the questions that such an idea could raise in the film's sequel.[ Because of criticism of the death of Zara in the previous film, Trevorrow said for ''Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'': "We made sure that every death was earned. Everybody deserves their death in this movie, a lesson learned. In 2018 everyone earns it. Horrible people".][
One of Trevorrow's ideas was to include ]Jeff Goldblum
Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum (; born October 22, 1952) is an American actor and musician. He has starred in some of the highest-grossing films of his era, such as ''Jurassic Park'' (1993) and '' Independence Day'' (1996), as well as their sequels.
...
's character of Ian Malcolm, who appeared in the franchise's earlier films. Trevorrow and Goldblum discussed dialogue ideas for Malcolm, and Trevorrow said he used a lot of dialogue from Crichton's ''Jurassic Park'' novel for the character.[ Marshall said that Trevorrow wrote Malcolm as "the 'Uh oh, danger, I told you so' kind of character".] Trevorrow said of Malcolm: "I saw him as kind of Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
. He's got a beard now, and he's like, 'I told all of you this was going to be a disaster, and sure enough it is'".
The character of Lowery
Lavery, also spelled Lowry, Lowrie, Lory, Lavoy and Lowery, is an Irish surname derived from the Gaelic ''Ó Labhradha'', meaning the "descendants of Labhradha".
The Ó Labhradha descend from Labhradh, who was the father of Etru, chief of the Mona ...
, a park control-room employee from the previous ''Jurassic World'' film, was considered for a return in ''Fallen Kingdom''. Trevorrow ultimately replaced Lowery with the equivalent character Franklin Webb. According to Trevorrow, Lowery did not have quite the same spirit as Franklin: "We did like the idea of ia and Franklinbeing pretty idealistic young people who are activists who really believe in the cause that Claire believes in. I wasn't really able to shoehorn oweryinto that, he's kind of a cynical guy". Jake Johnson
Mark Jake Johnson Weinberger (born May 28, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, film producer and screenwriter best known for his role as Nick Miller in the Fox sitcom ''New Girl'' (2011–2018), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Ch ...
met with Connolly to discuss his character's appearance in ''Fallen Kingdom''. Johnson later said that Lowery "is a different guy because of what he went through in the first movie. Like he's got a huge ponytail now. I pitched that he's got sleeve tattoos. The trauma of seeing a dinosaur attack really messed him up. I thought we could have some fun". In October 2016, Johnson said he and his character would not be in the film.
Bayona
After Bayona was hired, he began reading Crichton's novels - including ''Jurassic Park'' and ''The Lost World'' - for inspiration.[ He also re-watched each of the previous ''Jurassic Park'' films.][ Trevorrow and Connolly began working with Bayona in July 2016, to perfect the script to the director's liking.] Bayona had his own ideas incorporated into the script while essentially retaining the original story devised by Trevorrow and Connolly.[ The film's underwater opening sequence was already in their script,][ and Bayona asked Trevorrow to push for it to become a bigger scene with a larger set.][ Because the film has a lengthy period until the action scenes involving the volcano, Bayona felt it was necessary to expand the opening sequence to be action oriented.][ He also expanded Blue's surgery scene, as he felt it was a key moment demonstrating Owen's relationship with her.][ In addition, Bayona added an action scene to the sequence set on board the ''Arcadia'', the ship that transports the dinosaurs. He felt that the sequence was too lengthy and required some action, leading to his suggestion of Owen and Claire retrieving blood from the ''T. rex'' to aid in Blue's surgery.][ Bayona and Trevorrow removed certain moments from the final script that they felt would be better for the sequel, which would depict dinosaurs having spread around the world.][
Trevorrow said ''Fallen Kingdom'' would be more "suspenseful and scary" than its predecessor: "It's just the way it's designed; it's the way the story plays out. I knew I wanted Bayona to direct it long before anyone ever heard that it was a possibility, so the whole thing was just built around his skillset".][ Trevorrow later described the film as "''The Impossible'' meets ''The Orphanage'' with dinosaurs".] Bayona said that with the first half of the film set on an island, "you have what you expect from a ''Jurassic'' movie", while the second half "moves to a totally different environment that feels more suspenseful, darker, claustrophobic, and even has this kind of gothic element, which I love". The "gothic element" of suspense was influenced by Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
films. Bayona compared the film to ''The Empire Strikes Back
''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic film, epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based o ...
'' and '' Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'', which were both considered darker than their predecessors. Regarding the mansion sequence in which Maisie is chased by the ''Indoraptor'', Bayona compared the scenes to "the classic ending of a fairy tale, of a Gothic story, like finishing at the top of the castle with the princess in the tower and the dragon chasing the little girl".
Trevorrow said the film's dinosaurs would be "a parable of the treatment animals receive today: the abuse, medical experimentation, pets, having wild animals in zoos like prisons, the use the military has made of them, animals as weapons". In Trevorrow and Connolly's draft, the dinosaurs would be sold rather than auctioned.[ Spielberg and Trevorrow liked Bayona's idea to have the sale changed to an auction, which Bayona believed to be "the best way possible to show the greed in those characters. Because all the people are together in the same room betting for the animals".][ Trevorrow said that they sought to explore "the uglier side" of humanity and "our cruel treatment" of living creatures.][ According to Trevorrow, the auction scene was initially envisioned as "a dirty, unsavory bunch of animal traffickers" but he said that Bayona "kept us from going too far", embracing the darker elements while adding his own "sense of playfulness and humor".][ Trevorrow described the final auction scene as "more like a ]Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
auction for the super-wealthy" while stating: "I think it played much better for kids, and was the right choice when balanced against the poor treatment of the animals we were seeing, which could have become irreparably sad". Trevorrow said that with the dinosaur auction, "the worst instincts of mankind are revealed. The first film was very clearly about corporate greed. This is just about human greed".
Casting
In October 2016, casting was underway for the role of a nine-year-old girl. Approximately 2,500 girls were interviewed for the part, which ultimately went to Isabella Sermon, marking her film debut.[ ]Tom Holland
Thomas Stanley Holland (born 1 June 1996) is an English actor. His accolades include a British Academy Film Award, three Saturn Awards, a Guinness World Record and an appearance on the ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 Europe list. Some publications h ...
- who previously starred in ''The Impossible'' - had discussed a role in the film with Bayona, but did not believe he would be available because of scheduling conflicts. Toby Jones
Tobias Edward Heslewood Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 7 September 1966) is an English actor. Jones made his film debut in Sally Potter's period drama ''Orlando'' in 1992. He ...
, Rafe Spall, and Justice Smith
Justice Elio Smith (born August 9, 1995) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films '' Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'', '' Pokémon: Detective Pikachu'', and ''All the Bright Places''.
Early life
Smith was born in Ca ...
were cast at the end of the year.
Daniella Pineda
Daniella Pineda (born February 20, 1987) is an American actress. She has had major roles in several films and TV series, including '' The Originals'', Netflix's live-action '' Cowboy Bebop'', and multiple films in the ''Jurassic Park'' franchise ...
, Ted Levine
Frank Theodore Levine (born May 29, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the roles of Buffalo Bill (character), Buffalo Bill in the film ''The Silence of the Lambs (film), The Silence of the Lambs'' (1991) and Leland Stottle ...
and James Cromwell
James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940) is an American actor and activist. Some of his best-known films include ''Babe'' (1995), '' Star Trek: First Contact'' (1996), ''L.A. Confidential'' (1997), '' The Green Mile'' (1999), ''The Queen'' ...
were cast in early 2017, while BD Wong
Bradley Darryl Wong (born October 24, 1960) is an American actor. Wong won a Tony Award for his performance as Song Liling in ''M. Butterfly'', becoming the only actor in Broadway history to receive the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Crit ...
confirmed his return as Dr. Henry Wu. Geraldine Chaplin
Geraldine Leigh Chaplin (born July 31, 1944) is an American actress. She is the daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of eight children with his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill. After beginnings in dance and modeling, she turned her attention to act ...
, who had appeared in each of Bayona's previous films, was also cast.[ To maintain secrecy, the ''Ancient Futures'' title was used in the casting phase. During auditions, references to dinosaurs were replaced with animals such as lions and grizzly bears.] To convince the studio that Pineda was right for the role of Zia, Bayona had her demonstrate she could perform comedy and drama scenes, as well as improvise
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
. Pineda auditioned seven times before being given the role. She auditioned for Bayona, Atienza, and Crowley but did not meet the cast until she arrived in England for filming.
Howard expressed interest in seeing characters from earlier ''Jurassic Park'' films return for the fifth installment. In April 2017, Goldblum was confirmed to reprise his role from the first two films as Dr. Ian Malcolm. Bayona considered Malcolm a "great character!" Marshall said: "The world has changed a lot since Ian Malcolm went to Jurassic Park and we need his point of view now more than ever. He told us about chaos theory, he was right".
Filming
Filming began on February 24, 2017, and the shoot included locations in England followed by Hawaii.[ Most of the filming in England took place at ]Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London.
The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...
. Because of its large sound stage
A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a soundproof, large structure, building, or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or ...
s, it was considered perfect for the film's many interior scenes.[ Scenes shot in Hawaii were set on Isla Nublar. A ]post-credits scene
A post-credits scene (commonly referred to as a stinger or credit cookie) or mid-credits scene is a short clip that appears after all or some of the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV series, or video g ...
is set at the Paris Las Vegas
Paris Las Vegas is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment and has a 95,263 square-foot casino with over 1,700 slot machines.
The theme is the city of Paris; it includes a hal ...
resort, where loose pteranodon
''Pteranodon'' (); from Ancient Greek (''pteron'', "wing") and (''anodon'', "toothless") is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with ''P. longiceps'' having a wingspan of . They lived during the late Cr ...
s from Lockwood's estate land atop the resort's Eiffel Tower.[ Scenes were also expected to be shot at ]Brecon Beacons National Park
The Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain (range), Black Mountain ...
in Wales, but ultimately no filming took place there.
The film is the first entry in the ''Jurassic Park'' series to be shot in CinemaScope
CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...
, a widescreen 2.40:1 aspect ratio, as Bayona wanted to present the film as "bigger" and "more epic". The film crew used Arri Alexa 65
The Arri Alexa (stylised as ΛLEXΛ) is a digital motion picture camera system developed by Arri. First introduced in April 2010, the camera was Arri's first major transition into digital cinematography after previous efforts such as the Arri ...
cameras exclusively, making it the first film in the series to be shot digitally.[ Several scenes were shot to reference various films including '']From Here to Eternity
''From Here to Eternity'' is a 1953 American drama romance war film directed by Fred Zinnemann, and written by Daniel Taradash, based on the 1951 novel of the same name by James Jones. The picture deals with the tribulations of three U.S. Arm ...
'' (1953) and ''Dracula
''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...
'' (1979), as well as Spielberg's films ''Raiders of the Lost Ark
''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...
'' (1981) and ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, d ...
'' (1982).[ Spielberg was shown scenes from the film during production and offered Bayona his opinions.][ Bayona said that making the film was the biggest challenge of his life.][ The original cut of the film was approximately two hours and 45 minutes,] which the filmmakers considered too long.[ It was trimmed to two hours and eight minutes for the final cut.][ One scene removed from the film for runtime reasons revealed the character of Zia to be a lesbian, an idea that came from Bayona and Trevorrow.] The two chose not to include the deleted scenes on the film's home video release, as they believed that there was nothing meaningful in the scenes that would be of interest to viewers. The Pteranodons in Las Vegas is one scene that was cut but eventually added as the film's post-credits scene prior to the theatrical release.
During filming, and in between take
A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production.
Film
In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each s ...
s, Bayona used an iPod
The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...
to play different types of music on set to inspire the actors, as he had done with his previous films. He also played sound effects from other films in the series, including a ''T. rex'' roar that he sometimes used to get a natural reaction from the actors. In particular, Bayona played unexpected sounds and loud music to scare Smith for certain scenes, as his character is portrayed as easily frightened.[ Bayona and Pratt discussed each scene involving Owen's character before it was shot, and many of Pratt's ideas were used in the film. Discussing Levine's character, Bayona said: "He came with this idea of creating this kind of military man. He just wanted to portray the most hateable character possible. ..And he was so creative on set, trying to give ideas, bringing story notes to make this character more and more hateable".][
The film includes several indirect references to U.S. President ]Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, including an idea from Trevorrow where a news ticker
A news ticker (sometimes called a "crawler", "crawl", "slide", "zipper", or "ticker tape") is a horizontal or vertical (depending on a language's writing system) text-based display either in the form of a graphic that typically resides in the lo ...
says the "U.S. president" has questioned the "existence of dinosaurs in the first place".[ Trevorrow included the line because he felt that there was an ongoing "strong denial of science" in the world.][ Jones was allowed to decide his character's appearance, which included a wig similar to Trump's hairstyle.] An unscripted moment left in the film involves Levine's character referring to Pineda's character Zia as a "nasty woman
"Nasty woman" was a phrase used by 2016 US presidential candidate Donald Trump to refer to opponent Hillary Clinton during the third presidential debate. The phrase made worldwide news, became a viral call for some women voters, and has also la ...
", a comment that was previously made famous by Trump.
In Hawaii, scenes where characters are running were filmed with the use of the Edge Arm, a stabilized camera that was attached to a crane, which was mounted to a truck that drove alongside the actors. This specialized camera allowed for scenes to be shot steadily despite the truck being driven over rough terrain. The film includes a scene on Isla Nublar where Claire and Franklin are riding in a ball-shaped Jurassic World Gyrosphere ride to evade dinosaurs.[ It was shot in England,][ and at ]Kualoa Ranch
Kualoa is a private nature reserve and working cattle ranch, as well as a popular tourist attraction and filming location on the windward coast of Oahu in Hawaii. It is about from Honolulu, and from Haleiwa. The ranch consists of 3 valleys: ...
in Oahu
Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...
, Hawaii.[ Bayona described the scene as one of the film's biggest challenges.]
In Hawaii, the Edge Arm was used to film the actors riding in the Gyrosphere as it was hauled on a trailer to simulate its movement.[ In England, an outdoor roller coaster track with a 40-foot drop was constructed for the Gyrosphere, which Howard and Smith rode in to shoot a scene where the ride plummets off a cliff and into the water surrounding Isla Nublar.] Although this portion of the scene could have been shot with the use of a green screen
Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to r ...
, Bayona wanted the actors to express genuine fear for the scene.[ The last part of the scene was shot at Pinewood Studios, where a large indoor tank was constructed and filled with water to depict the submerged ride as Owen tries to break it open and rescue Claire and Franklin.][ This portion of the scene was filmed in five different takes that were merged to make it seem like a single continuous shot.][ Pratt was aided by a diving instructor while he shot the scene, which also involved Howard and Smith being underwater.] Filming in the tank lasted five days,[ and it required a crew of 85. It was shot primarily by a ]second unit
Second unit is a discrete team of filmmakers tasked with filming shots or sequences of a production, separate from the main or "first" unit. The second unit will often shoot simultaneously with the other unit or units, allowing the filming stag ...
crew, as Bayona was busy directing scenes on other sound stages.
United Kingdom
Filming in the United Kingdom began at the Langley Business Centre in Slough
Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...
, England. Scenes shot at the business center included Claire's Dinosaur Protection Group office, old video diaries of Owen training his baby raptors, and Owen and Claire attempting to retrieve blood from the sedated ''T. rex''.[ Much of the video diary footage was improvised by Pratt.] Bayona, at the suggestion of his film editor, later decided to intercut Blue's surgery scene with footage from the video diaries.
In April 2017, filming took place at Hartland Park—formerly the Pyestock jet engine test site—in Fleet, Hampshire
Fleet is a town and civil parish in the Hart District
Hart is a local government district in Hampshire, England, named after the River Hart. Its council is based in Fleet. It was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 197 ...
, England,[ where the film's opening sequence was shot.][ It was filmed through the night and involved helicopters, rain machines, and lightning simulators to depict a thunderstorm.][ Bayona described the opening scene as a "massive action piece" that resembled the ]prologue
A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...
s used in James Bond films
James Bond is a fictional character created by British novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. A British secret agent working for MI6 under the codename 007, Bond has been portrayed on film in twenty-seven productions by actors Sean Connery, David Nive ...
.[ Filming also took place at ]Loch Long
Loch Long is a body of water in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The Sea Loch extends from the Firth of Clyde at its southwestern end. It measures approximately in length, with a width of between . The loch also has an arm, Loch Goil, on its weste ...
in Argyll and Bute
Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...
, Scotland.
Scenes were also filmed on sets at Hampshire's Hawley Common, where the exterior of Lockwood's mansion was built, as well as a mainland loading dock where the dinosaurs are brought.[ The exterior of the ''Arcadia'' was created entirely through computer-generated effects by ]Industrial Light & Magic
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began pro ...
(ILM), which worked on the previous films. The ship's interior was constructed by Nicholson and his team as a large set at Pinewood Studios, and after filming, it was rebuilt to depict the large rooftop of the Lockwood Estate.[ The exterior of the ]Cragside
Cragside is a Victorian country house near the town of Rothbury in Northumberland, England. It was the home of William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, founder of the Armstrong Whitworth armaments firm. An industrial magnate, scientist, philanth ...
country house in Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
, England, along with its conifer
Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...
ous surroundings, was also used to depict the Lockwood Estate exterior. The film crew took plate shots of Cragside and used a computer to combine the shots with footage filmed on set to create the exterior of the Lockwood Estate. No actors were involved in the Cragside shoot.
Nicholson previsualized each of the sets he and his team built to ensure they would be large enough for the intended scenes. He noted: "Someone can tell you a ''Velociraptor'' is X-feet long, but until you see it in the space, you can't appreciate what that means in terms of your set and the action that needs to take place within it". The interior of the multi-floor Lockwood Estate was built entirely on sound stages at Pinewood Studios. The estate set included Eli Mills's office, Dr. Wu's large underground laboratory, an underground dinosaur containment facility, separate bedrooms belonging to Benjamin and Maisie Lockwood, and a large library with dinosaur skeletons and artifacts. When filming was completed in the Lockwood library, the set was redecorated and converted into the estate's underground garage, where the dinosaur auction takes place.[ Pratt said the film involved significantly more stunts than its predecessor.][ An improvised fist fight scene, between Owen and several men during the dinosaur auction, was added late in filming.] It was the first such scene to be featured in the film series, and was filmed in a single continuous shot with the use of a dolly track
A camera dolly is a wheeled cart or similar device used in filmmaking and television production to create smooth horizontal camera movements. The camera is mounted to the dolly and the camera operator and focus puller or camera assistant usual ...
.
Scenes at Hampshire's Blackbushe Airport
Blackbushe Airport is an operational general aviation airport in the civil parish of Yateley in the north-east corner of the English county of Hampshire. Built during the Second World War, Blackbushe is north of the A30 road between Camberley ...
, standing in as an American airfield, were shot in May 2017. Filming in the United Kingdom concluded on June 10. Up to that point, Trevorrow was present as an on-set writer for each day of production so he could aid Bayona with any possible script changes. Goldblum shot his scenes in a single day at Pinewood Studios, during the last day of filming in the United Kingdom. Jones also filmed his scenes on large sets at Pinewood Studios.[
]
Hawaii
Filming in Hawaii was underway as of June 13, 2017, and lasted more than 25 days, with locations that included Dillingham Airfield
Dillingham Airfield is a public and military use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) west of the central business district of Mokulēia, in Honolulu County. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective May 31, 2012. on the No ...
and Pua'ena Point. On June 21, filming began at Heʻeia Kea Small Boat Harbor,[ which served as Isla Nublar's shipping dock.][ More than half the harbor was closed for filming, which required the use of smoke machines. Scenes were scheduled to be shot there until the end of the month.] Filming also took place in a nearby Heʻeia jungle for scenes where Owen searches for and locates Blue.[ As a reference to the first ''Jurassic Park'' film, the scene between Owen and Blue includes an overturned ]Ford Explorer
The Ford Explorer is a range of SUVs manufactured by Ford Motor Company since the 1991 model year. The first four-door SUV produced by Ford, the Explorer was introduced as a replacement for the two-door Bronco II. Within the current Ford light ...
, previously featured in the original film as a Jurassic Park tour vehicle. Trevorrow had initially considered including the vehicle in a scene in ''Jurassic World'', before settling on the original Jurassic Park visitor center instead. Another filming location was Kualoa Ranch, which included the exterior set for a radio tower bunker.[ The film's official title was confirmed as ''Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'' on June 22, 2017.
David Vickery and his team at ILM created the volcanic special effects and consulted ]volcanologist
A volcanologist, or volcano scientist, is a geologist who focuses on understanding the formation and eruptive activity of volcanoes. Volcanologists frequently visit volcanoes, sometimes active ones, to observe and monitor volcanic eruptions, col ...
s for research. According to Vickery, the team asked "how a volcano of this type might erupt" and also requested information about "the various stages of lava and pyroclastic flow
A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current or a pyroclastic cloud) is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that flows along the ground away from a volcano at average speeds of bu ...
. We are speeding it up a bit for the sake of our film, but it is definitely all based on real science". The lava was created through digital effects, although one scene used cat litter
A litter box, also known as a sandbox, cat box, litter tray, cat pan, potty, pot or litter pan, is an indoor feces and urine collection box for cats, as well as rabbits, ferrets, miniature pigs, small dogs, and other pets that instinctively or ...
set on fire as a stand-in on set, so the actors would know where to react. The scene was set in an Isla Nublar bunker as lava begins dripping from the roof. The litter had been soaked in flammable liquid, and was dropped from 12 different nozzles above the set.
The Main Street section of the Jurassic World theme park was rebuilt on Police Beach in Hawaii for a scene where Owen and Claire return to the island.[ The set had been built previously in Louisiana for filming of the previous ''Jurassic World'', but was dismantled after filming concluded.][ For the sequel, Nicholson had part of the Main Street practically built, although the park's visitor center could not be constructed in its entirety because of its large size.] Unbuilt portions of the park were created by ILM using digital set extensions. Main Street was the largest set built in Hawaii, and required more than three months to complete.[ Many of the same prop makers returned to recreate the Main Street set, which then had to be aged to give the appearance of abandonment.][ Filming took place at Oahu's ]Hālona Blowhole
Hālona Blowhole is a rock formation and a blowhole on the island of Oahu, Hawaii off of Hanauma Bay at Hālona Point overlooking the Pacific Ocean. In Hawaiian ''hālona'' means "lookout".
Description
On windy days when the tide is high, the ...
on July 7, where Pratt, Howard and Smith shot scenes on a beach.[ Filming wrapped one day later.
]
Creatures on screen
The film's dinosaurs were created using a combination of animatronics and computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The images may ...
(CGI).[ Special effects artist ]Neal Scanlan
Neal Scanlan (born 1961) is a British special effects artist and make-up artist, best known for his work on the Star Wars sequel trilogy and Anthology films. He won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for ''Babe'' in 1996.
Selected filmogr ...
served as the film's creature effects supervisor,[ while Vickery and Alex Wuttke were ]visual effects supervisor
In the context of film and television production, a visual effects supervisor is responsible for achieving the creative aims of the director or producers through the use of visual effects.
While it is a creative role, most supervisors possess a st ...
s.[ Scanlan worked on the animatronic dinosaurs, while Vickery and his ILM team created versions of the dinosaurs through CGI.][ ILM animators in Vancouver worked on dinosaur stampede scenes, while ILM's London studio created the remaining creature scenes. Approximately 52 ILM animators worked on the film.][ Scanlan worked closely with Bayona and Vickery to create the creatures.][ Vickery and ILM did extensive research to accurately create and depict the dinosaurs, which included consulting with ]paleontologist
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
s. The ILM team also referred to elephants and rhinos to determine how the dinosaurs should move and behave.[ Dinosaur expert John Hankla, of the ]Denver Museum of Nature and Science
The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is a municipal natural history and science museum in Denver, Colorado. It is a resource for informal science education in the Rocky Mountain region. A variety of exhibitions, programs, and activities help mus ...
, served as an advisor on the film.[ Hankla also provided several dinosaur fossil recreations for the film, including an accurately sized ''Velociraptor'' skeleton that appears in the background at the Lockwood Estate's library of dinosaur skeletons. After reading fan thoughts on dinosaurs and speaking with children, Bayona realized that dinosaur textures and colors were often brought up and said: "I thought that was the area where I could play with. They feel somehow a little bit more exotic and richer in this movie".][ New research had also suggested that real dinosaurs were more colorful and brighter than previously thought.][
The film features more dinosaurs than any previous film in the series.][ Bayona wanted to include several new dinosaurs never seen in earlier films,][ including '']Allosaurus
''Allosaurus'' () is a genus of large carnosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic epoch (Kimmeridgian to late Tithonian). The name "''Allosaurus''" means "different lizard" alluding to ...
'', ''Baryonyx
''Baryonyx'' () is a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived in the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous period, about 130–125 million years ago. The first skeleton was discovered in 1983 in the Smokejack Clay Pit, of Surrey, England, in se ...
'', ''Carnotaurus
''Carnotaurus'' (; ) is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the Late Cretaceous period, probably sometime between 71 and 69 million years ago. The only species is ''Carnotaurus sastrei''. Known from a single well-p ...
'', ''Sinoceratops
''Sinoceratops'' is an extinct genus of ceratopsian dinosaur that lived approximately 73 million years ago during the latter part of the Cretaceous Period in what is now Shandong province in China. It was named in 2010 by Xu Xing ''et al.'' fo ...
'', ''Stygimoloch
''Pachycephalosaurus'' (; meaning "thick-headed lizard", from Greek ''pachys-/'' "thick", ''kephale/'' "head" and ''sauros/'' "lizard") is a genus of pachycephalosaurid dinosaurs. The type species, ''P. wyomingensis'', is the only known species, ...
'', and the fictional ''Indoraptor''. Initially, the film was to feature two ''Indoraptors'', a white one and a black one, the latter of which would kill the former in what Bayona considered similar to Cain and Abel
In the biblical Book of Genesis, Cain ''Qayīn'', in pausa ''Qāyīn''; gr, Κάϊν ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl / Qāyīn and Abel ''Heḇel'', in pausa ''Hāḇel''; gr, Ἅβελ ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hāb ...
. The white ''Indoraptor'' was eventually removed from the script as the story was considered detailed enough without it.[ '']Dilophosaurus
''Dilophosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of theropod dinosaurs that lived in what is now North America during the Early Jurassic, about 193 million years ago. Three skeletons were discovered in northern Arizona in 1940, and the two best preserved ...
'' was featured in the script, but its scene went un-filmed as Bayona decided it was not necessary. The scene would take place on board the ''Arcadia'', in which Owen and Claire would encounter the ''Dilophosaurus'' in a cage. Bayona felt that the scenes on board the ship were long enough already.[ ''Baryonyx'' and ''Carnotaurus'' were among the creatures created through CGI.][
The film features more animatronic dinosaurs than any previous sequel,][ and the animatronics used were more technologically advanced than in the earlier films.][ Five animatronic dinosaurs were created for the film, whereas the previous film featured only one.][ More animatronics were used because the film features closer interaction between humans and dinosaurs than its predecessor, including a scene where Howard rides atop the sedated ''T. rex''.] Bayona said that animatronics "are very helpful on set, especially for the actors so they have something to perform against. There's an extra excitement if they can act in front of something real". Scanlan felt animatronics were not best for every scene: "In some ways it will have an impact on your shooting schedule; you have to take time to film with an animatronic. In the balance, we ask ourselves if it is economically and artistically more valuable to do it that way, or as a post-production effect. Once we have looked at each particular case, with the director and the VFX supervisor we decide whether—because of the environment or the circumstances—it is the right way to go practically".[
Spielberg suggested to Bayona that he not overfill his shots with animatronic dinosaurs, in order to give the impression that the dinosaurs were bigger.][ Scanlan spent more than eight months at Pinewood Studios working on the creatures before and during filming, with a crew of approximately 35 people.] Scanlan's team created functional animatronic models of the ''T. rex'', the ''Indoraptor'' and Blue, while ILM worked on CGI versions of the creatures.[
* The '' T. rex'' was one of the first animatronic creatures needed for filming, in the form of a full-scale head and shoulders. ILM sent Scanlan a model of the ''T. rex'' from its appearance in ''Jurassic World''. Scanlan used it to create a full-scale ]3D print
3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer co ...
of the ''T. rex'' head and shoulders.[ The life-sized ''T. rex'' animatronic, which had the ability to breathe and move its head, was controlled with joysticks.] It was used for a scene where the sedated creature is inside a cage while Owen and Claire attempt to retrieve blood from it. The beginning shots of the scene were created using only the animatronic, while the ending shots solely used CGI. The middle portion of the scene used a combination of the two methods.[ Within the film's story, the ''T. rex'' is portrayed as the same individual featured in previous films. Trevorrow said: "We've been following this same character since the beginning; she's the same ''T. rex'' that was in ''Jurassic Park'' and in ''Jurassic World''. She is iconic—not just because she's a ''T. rex'', but because she's ''this T. rex''".][
* The Blue animatronic was created to lie down on an operating table, depicting the animal in an injured state while the character of Zia operates on the creature. Up to 12 ]puppeteer
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from ...
s, hidden under the operating table, were needed to control the animatronic during filming.[ The scene was shot twice, with and without the Blue animatronic, and the two versions were later combined for a seamless effect.][ In creating Blue through CGI, the animators referred to the animal's appearance in the previous film.][ According to Vickery, Blue's movements were designed to resemble a dog: "You look at the way Blue cocks her head and looks up at you. It's exactly like a dog. You're trying to sort of connect the dinosaur with things that you understand as a human".]
* The ''Indoraptor'' was primarily created through CGI, while a practical head, neck, shoulders, foot and arm were created for close-up shots. For some scenes, an inflatable ''Indoraptor'' stand-in was operated by two puppeteers on set, to be later replaced by a CGI version of the creature.[ The ''Indoraptor'' was designed to have long human-like arms.][ The creature is depicted as a ]quadruped
Quadrupedalism is a form of locomotion where four limbs are used to bear weight and move around. An animal or machine that usually maintains a four-legged posture and moves using all four limbs is said to be a quadruped (from Latin ''quattuor' ...
and biped
Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning 'two feet' (from Latin ''bis'' 'double' a ...
,[ with a height of approximately tall while standing on two legs.][ Bayona chose black for the ''Indoraptor''s color because he wanted the creature to have the appearance of a black shadow, saying "it's very terrifying when you see the Indoraptor in the dark because you can only see the eyes and the teeth".][ The ''Indoraptor''s front teeth and long claws were inspired by ]Count Orlok
Count Orlok (german: Graf Orlok), commonly but erroneously known as Nosferatu, is the main antagonist and title character portrayed by German actor Max Schreck (1879–1936) in the silent film ''Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens'' (1922). He ...
in ''Nosferatu
''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' (German: ''Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens'') is a 1922 silent German Expressionist horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife ...
''.
Scanlan's team also made puppeteering aids, rod puppet
A hand puppet is a type of puppet that is controlled by the hand or hands that occupies the interior of the puppet.Sinclair, A, ''The Puppetry Handbook'', p.15 A glove puppet is a variation of hand puppets. Rod puppets require one of the puppeteer ...
s, and several prop dinosaurs, all created by coordinating with Vickery to ensure a consistent result between the practical effects and CGI.[ Animal motions that could not be perfected with puppetry, such as blinking, were created with computer technology.][ Among the puppeteer dinosaurs were baby ''Velociraptor'' used for a scene with Pratt.] The scene's final, wider shots used two-wheeled, remote-controlled toys to stand-in for the baby ''Velociraptor'' on set. The toys included a spring which gave them the ability to jump. The feature was used to get a genuinely startled reaction from Pratt.[
Although ]motion capture
Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...
was used in the previous film to depict ''Velociraptor'', ILM determined after several tests the technology would not be adequate for depicting dinosaurs in ''Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom''. They chose instead to use key frame
In animation and filmmaking, a key frame (or keyframe) is a drawing or shot that defines the starting and ending points of a smooth transition. These are called ''frames'' because their position in time is measured in frames on a strip of film ...
animation done for the previous films. However, some motion capture was done as a form of previsualization
Previsualization (also known as previsualisation, previs, previz, pre-rendering, preview or wireframe windows) is the visualizing of scenes or sequences in a movie, prior to filming. It is also a concept in various creative practices, including an ...
to aid Bayona.[ ILM used key framing to create scenes involving a large number of dinosaurs and referred to ]high-speed photography
High-speed photography is the science of taking pictures of very fast phenomena. In 1948, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) defined high-speed photography as any set of photographs captured by a camera capable of 69 ...
of horses racing for aid in creating such scenes. The fight scene between Blue and the ''Indoraptor'', set in Maisie's bedroom, was designed in London and key framed by ILM. Jance Rubinchik, animation supervisor for ILM, said the fight was the "trickiest sequence" because of the lack of previsualization.[
According to Bayona, a '']Brachiosaurus
''Brachiosaurus'' () is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic, about 154to 150million years ago. It was first described by American paleontologist Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 from fossils found in th ...
'' shown dying in the volcanic eruption is meant to be the same individual that is first seen in the original ''Jurassic Park''. The ''Brachiosaurus'' in the new film was created using the same animations from the 1993 film.[ The dinosaur's death was the last shot on the entire film to be finished; Bayona and the post-production team struggled to perfect the CGI of the scene with only several days left to complete it. They worked through the final night to perfect the scene's colors and composition, shortly before the film's release.][
For advice on veterinary procedures and animatronic movements, the filmmakers sought a veterinary surgeon who had experience with ]African wildlife
The fauna of Africa, in its broader sense, is all the animals living in Africa and its surrounding seas and islands. The more characteristic African fauna is found in the Afrotropical realm. Lying almost entirely within the tropics, and equally to ...
. Jonathan Cranston, a Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
veterinary surgeon, was recommended for the position because of his experience with wildlife in South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. He advised Bayona and the producers on how to choreograph several scenes to accurately depict complex veterinarian procedures that involved the dinosaurs. Cranston also worked closely with Pratt, Howard, Pineda and Smith to teach them how to perform such procedures. He also advised the puppeteers on creating subtle and authentic animal movements and worked with Bayona on two scenes. Cranston was on set for 12 days, primarily at Pinewood Studios.
Music
The musical score was composed by Michael Giacchino
Michael Giacchino (; born October 10, 1967) is an American composer of music for films, television and video games. He has also served as a director for television. He has received many awards, including an Oscar for his work on '' Up'' (2009), a ...
, who also composed the previous film. John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...
' themes from earlier ''Jurassic Park'' scores were incorporated by Giacchino. A soundtrack album was released on June 15, 2018, by Back Lot Music.
Marketing
A six-second clip from the film was released on November 22, 2017. The first trailer was teased for release on November 30, but was later confirmed to be incorrect. Several teaser trailers and a behind-the-scenes featurette
In the American film industry, a featurette is a kind of film that is shorter than a full-length feature, but longer than a short film. The term may refer to either of two types of content: a shorter film or a companion film.
Medium-length film ...
of the film were released in early December, before the release of a full-length trailer on December 7.[
That month, Universal launched a website for the Dinosaur Protection Group. It included miscellaneous information about the group and its effort to save the island's dinosaurs,] as well as a video featuring Howard, Pineda and Smith as their characters. The website also explained that Isla Sorna, the second island of dinosaurs featured in earlier films, is no longer inhabited. The website was created by Chaos Theorem, a creative digital storytelling company created by Jack Anthony Ewins and Timothy Glover, who worked previously on the Masrani Global website for ''Jurassic World'' along with their team Manuel Bejarano, Samuel Phillips, Ross Lane & Jaroslav Kosmina. Trevorrow and Chaos Theorem also created a website and campaign for "Extinction Now!" (the antithesis to the Dinosaur Protection Group), which was launched shortly before the film's release. The campaign included a found-footage clip of a ''Tyrannosaurus'' loose in San Diego, a reference to '' The Lost World: Jurassic Park''.[
A second trailer aired during ]Super Bowl LII
Super Bowl LII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2017 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated the American Football Conferen ...
on February 4, 2018. A 30-second teaser trailer was later released on April 13, followed by the full trailer on April 18. Several of the trailers and commercials for the film included scenes from the ending that depict the ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' and the ''Mosasaurus'' now loose in the world. This frustrated Trevorrow, who preferred not to show such scenes before the film's release.[
Universal spent $145 million on prints and advertisements promoting the film and had the benefit of a global marketing campaign by its partners valued at an additional $185 million, more than double the value of the previous film's partner program.] The campaign included nine partners—Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen (DQ) is an American chain of soft serve ice cream and fast food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc. (a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway since 1998) which also owns Orange Julius, and formerly owned Karmelkorn and G ...
, Doritos
Doritos () is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced since 1964 by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo. The original Doritos were not flavored. The first flavor was Toasted Corn, released in 1966, followed by Taco in ...
, Dr Pepper
Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink. It was created in the 1880s by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904. It is now also sold in Euro ...
, Ferrero SpA
Ferrero SpA (), more commonly known as Ferrero Group or simply Ferrero, is an Italian multinational company with headquarters in Alba, Italy. manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products, and the second biggest chocolate producer ...
, Jeep
Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Moto ...
, Juicy Fruit
Juicy Fruit is an American brand of chewing gum made by the Wrigley Company, a U.S. company that since 2008 has been a subsidiary of the privately held Mars, Incorporated. It was introduced in 1893, and in the 21st century the brand name is rec ...
, Kellogg's
The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toaste ...
, M&M's
M&M's (stylized as m&m's) are multi-colored button-shaped chocolates, each of which has the letter "m" printed in lower case in white on one side, consisting of a candy shell surrounding a filling which varies depending upon the variety of M&M ...
, and Skittles
Skittles may refer to:
* Skittles (confectionery), a brand of fruit-flavor chewy candy, distributed by Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company
*'' Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical''
* Skittles (sport), the game from which bowling originated
* Skittles (ch ...
—who aired television commercials and sold products to promote the film.[ The global marketing campaign consisted of 1.3 billion promotional items, including 100 million boxes of Kellogg's products and 15 million packages of ]Kinder Joy
Kinder Joy (formerly known as Kinder Merendero in Italy and Bahrain) is a candy made by Italian confectionery company Ferrero as part of its Kinder brand of products. It has plastic egg-shaped packaging that splits into two; one half contains la ...
candy by Ferrero.[ Dairy Queen, a returning partner from the previous film, sold "Jurassic Chomp" ice cream desserts in collectable cups, while Doritos and Dr Pepper marketed versions of their products that featured images of the film's dinosaurs.][ For Super Bowl LII, Trevorrow directed a Jeep commercial starring Goldblum featuring a ''T. rex''. Within 24 hours of its release, the commercial received 39.7 million online views, more than any film trailer watched online following its Super Bowl television debut.][ Universal also teamed up with ]Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
for a marketing stunt where a dinosaur-sized box was driven around Los Angeles on a truck to promote the film.
Licensing partners Mattel
Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
, Lego
Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...
, and Funko
Funko Inc. is an American company that manufactures licensed and limited pop culture collectibles, best known for its licensed vinyl figurines and bobbleheads. In addition, the company produces licensed plush, action figures, apparel, accessories ...
created toys based on the film. Mattel produced a variety of toys, including dinosaurs and action figures, as well as Barbie
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration.
...
dolls featuring the likeness of Pratt and Howard as their characters.[ Mattel released a ]mobile app
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...
titled ''Jurassic World Facts'' as a tie-in
A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original prope ...
to its dinosaur toys, which included symbols that could be scanned to collect facts about each creature. Lego released a number of Lego sets and characters based on the film. A video game, ''Jurassic World Evolution
''Jurassic World Evolution'' is a construction and management simulation video game developed and published by Frontier Developments. Based on the 2015 film '' Jurassic World'', the game was released in June 2018, for Microsoft Windows, Play ...
'', was released simultaneously with the film. A two-part virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
miniseries titled ''Jurassic World: Blue'', created by Felix & Paul Studios and Industrial Light and Magic, was released for Oculus VR headsets as a film tie-in, featuring Blue on Isla Nublar at the time of the volcanic eruption.
Release
Theatrical
''Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'' had its premiere at the WiZink Center
Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid (English: ''Sports Palace of the Regional Community of Madrid''), officially WiZink Center since November 2016 for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor sporting arena located in Madrid, Spain.
The forme ...
in Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, Spain, on May 21, 2018. The film's international theatrical release began in Singapore and Malaysia on June 7, followed by the United Kingdom, India, Italy, South Korea and Angola on June 8. It was released in the United States on June 22, 2018.[
]
Home media
''Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'' was released digitally on September 4, 2018, and on Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
, DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
, Blu-ray 3D
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
and 4K Blu-ray
Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are incompatible with existing standard Blu-ray players, though a traditional Blu- ...
on September 18.
Reception
Box office
''Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'' grossed $417.7 million in the United States and Canada and $892.7 million in other territories for a total worldwide gross of $1.310 billion, against a production budget of $432 million.
The film crossed the $1 billion mark on July 5, 2018, becoming the 35th film of all time to reach this milestone, and the seventh film for Universal. It also made Universal the second studio (after Disney) to have at least two films in three different franchises make $1 billion worldwide, alongside ''Fast & Furious
''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, a t ...
'' and ''Despicable Me
''Despicable Me'' is a computer-animated media franchise centering on Gru, a reformed super-villain (who later becomes a father, husband, and secret agent), and his yellow-colored Minions. It is produced by Illumination and distributed by ...
''. ''Deadline Hollywood
''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...
'' calculated the net profit of the film to be $222.8 million when factoring together all expenses and revenues, making it the eighth most profitable release of 2018. Using the updated budget by ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'', the film made a net profit of $218.4 million.
United States and Canada
In December 2017, a survey from Fandango
Fandango is a lively partner dance originating from Portugal and Spain, usually in triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has ...
indicated that ''Fallen Kingdom'' was one of the most anticipated films of 2018. Initial projections three weeks before its release had the film grossing $130–150 million in its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, with ''BoxOffice'' magazine estimating a total of $325–380 million for its final domestic gross. By the week of its release, the low-end projections had reached $135 million. It was released on June 22, 2018, in 4,475 theaters (the second-widest release ever behind ''Despicable Me 3
''Despicable Me 3'' is a 2017 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the sequel to ''Despicable Me 2'' (2013), the third main installment, and the fourth installment overal ...
''), grossing $58.7 million on its opening day, the second-highest of the franchise and 28th-best on record. The film grossed $15.3 million from Thursday night previews at 3,600 theaters, down from the $18.5 million grossed by ''Jurassic World''. It ended up debuting at $148 million, the 20th-best opening weekend of all time and second-highest for Universal. It also marked the second time two films opened to over $100 million on back-to-back weekends, following ''Incredibles 2
''Incredibles 2'' is a 2018 American computer-animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Written and directed by Brad Bird, it is the sequel to ''The Incredibles'' (2004) and the second fu ...
''s $182.7 million debut the week before, since May 2007 when ''Shrek the Third
''Shrek the Third'' (also known as ''Shrek 3'') is a 2007 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 picture book '' Shrek!'' by William Steig, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The se ...
'' and '' Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'' opened to $121.6 million and $114.7 million, respectively. The film was particularly popular among families, leading to an opening weekend that exceeded expectations. In its second weekend, the film made $60.9 million, a drop of 59% and less than the $105.8 million made by ''Jurassic World'' in its sophomore weekend. In its third weekend, it made $28.6 million.
Outside North America
Overseas, the film was released in 48 countries between June 6 and June 8, including France, Germany, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Italy, Russia, and Spain. It was projected to gross $130–145 million on its opening weekend. It made $20.2 million on its first day, including $1.4 million in France and $1 million in Indonesia. In South Korea, it grossed $9.7 million (₩
The won sign , is a currency symbol. It represents the South Korean won, the North Korean won and, unofficially, the old Korean won.
Appearance
Its appearance is "W" (the first letter of "Won") with a horizontal strike going through the cen ...
10.3 billion) and sold over 1 million tickets, setting opening day records for both (beating ''The Mummy'''s ₩7.4 billion and '' Avengers: Infinity War''s 980,000). It went on to have an international debut of $151.1 million, including $8 million from IMAX screenings. Its largest opening markets were South Korea ($27.2 million), the UK ($19.9 million), France ($10 million), Spain ($9.5 million), and Germany ($9.1 million). In China, the film was released on June 15 and made $34.4 million ( ¥220 million) on its opening day, nearly double the first day total of its predecessor ($17.5 million). The film went on to open to $111.9 million (¥715 million), the fourth-best-ever in the country for a Hollywood release (behind ''The Fate of the Furious
''The Fate of the Furious'' (alternatively known as ''F8'' and titled on-screen as ''Fast & Furious 8'' internationally) is a 2017 American action film directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to ''Furious 7'' (2 ...
'', ''Avengers: Infinity War'', and '' Transformers: The Last Knight''), and bringing its two-week international total to $372.1 million, more than the entire lifetime gross of ''Jurassic Park III
''Jurassic Park III'' is a 2001 American science fiction action film, written by Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne, and Jim Taylor and directed by Joe Johnston. It is the third installment in the '' Jurassic Park'' franchise and the final fil ...
'' ($368 million). In its third week of international release, the film made $106.7 million, bringing its total to $561.5 million. China remained one of the top markets, with $32.4 million (a standard 71% drop for Hollywood films in the country), while it was also released in Mexico ($12.3 million), Brazil ($9.2 million), and Australia ($7.9 million). As of July 5, 2018, the film has grossed $245.5 million in China, making it the fifth-highest-grossing Hollywood film of all time in the country.[
]
Critical response
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
assigned the film a weighted average score of 51 out of 100 based on 59 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak
PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios.
History
The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film a ...
reported filmgoers gave it an 82% overall positive score. ''The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' found that some critics praised the film's visuals and its break from recent franchise installments with its darker tone, but noted criticism from others regarding the screenplay, "undeveloped concepts", and the feeling that the film franchise had run its course.
''Variety'''s Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for ''Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...
called the film better than the first ''Jurassic World'' but wrote "... 'Fallen Kingdom''ends up being just a so-so ride. I hope the next one is an all-out ride—but that for the first time since Spielberg's 1993 original, it's actually a great one. The audience for this series has proved that it will turn out in mega-droves". Lindsey Bahr of the Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
wrote: "''Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'' will not stand up to rigorous scrutiny, and yet, it's kind of an enjoyable, preposterous and thrilling ride that ticks through nostalgia beats like a shopping list". ''The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
''s Ty Burr likened the film to a "Universal Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
theme park ride" noting: "It's enough for a fun fright night at the movies but lacks anything else: character, mystery, wonder, . The film's a rush for an audience that only wants the high".
In a more critical assessment, Peter Travers
Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
of ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' said "...this sequel has the perfunctory vibe that comes from filmmakers who cynically believe the public will buy anything ''T. rex''-related, no matter how shoddy the goods or warmed-over the plot". Senior Editor Matt Goldberg of Collider
A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators.
Colliders are used as a research tool in particle ...
also criticized the screenplay stating that "the film is too lazy to even bother with the modest housekeeping of explaining its characters' motives". ''The Verge
''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts.
The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media' ...
''s Bryan Bishop was equally critical: "Like its predecessor, ''Fallen Kingdom'' is overstuffed with ethical conundrums, and not sophisticated enough to fully engage with them ... the movie's villains become such cartoony caricatures that it's impossible to take ''Fallen Kingdom''s attempted philosophical musings seriously". Sam Machkovech of ''Ars Technica
''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sci ...
'' called the film a B movie
A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...
consisting of "a sixth-grade sketchbook mash of dino-murder, cartoonish villains, and plot holes", while Travis M. Andrews of ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' said the film makes dinosaurs boring.
In a positive review, Scott Mendelson of ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' wrote, "''Fallen Kingdom'' is a gorgeous, mostly enjoyable blockbuster that looked great in IMAX. That it doesn't cash all the checks it tries to write is why it's merely a good movie instead of a great one". Writing for ''The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'', John DeFore also praised the film: "Finally making good on its name, J.A. Bayona's ''Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'' says goodbye to the park for good, not just carrying the dinos off the island but freeing itself from the genre trappings of the previous four films". In a review for ''Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'', Ben Travis lauded the film giving it four out of five stars saying, "despite some familiar echoes of ''The Lost World'', ''Fallen Kingdom'' also takes big, ballsy, irreversible strides, deriving tantalising logical conclusions from Michael Crichton's original premise and setting up a brave new ''World'' for this trilogy's final chapter". Sam Prell of GamesRadar+
''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and '' Computer ...
compared the film to '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'', stating that both represent turning points for their respective franchises: "Both movies tear down the old to give us something new". IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
's Carlos Morales considered the film a Gothic fable rather than science fiction, noting a shift in tone from the previous films.
Many reviewers singled out the scene where a lone ''Brachiosaurus
''Brachiosaurus'' () is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic, about 154to 150million years ago. It was first described by American paleontologist Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 from fossils found in th ...
'', stranded on Isla Nublar, succumbs to the volcanic fumes while the characters helplessly watch from the departing ship as "poignant" or "haunting", especially given the species' role in the first film.
Accolades
Sequel
The sequel, ''Jurassic World Dominion'', began filming in February 2020, with Trevorrow returning as director and co-writer. Emily Carmichael is credited as co-screenwriter, with the script based on a story by Trevorrow and Connolly. Trevorrow also serves as executive producer with Steven Spielberg, while Marshall and Crowley served as producers.[ Pratt, Howard, Johnson, Sy, Pineda and Smith reprise their roles from the previous two films, while original ''Jurassic Park'' stars ]Laura Dern
Laura Elizabeth Dern (born February 10, 1967) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards.
Born to actor Bruce Dern and ac ...
, Jeff Goldblum
Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum (; born October 22, 1952) is an American actor and musician. He has starred in some of the highest-grossing films of his era, such as ''Jurassic Park'' (1993) and '' Independence Day'' (1996), as well as their sequels.
...
and Sam Neill
Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...
also return to the franchise. Like ''Fallen Kingdom'', filming took place at Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London.
The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...
. ''Jurassic World Dominion'' was released on June 10, 2022.
See also
* List of films featuring dinosaurs
This is a list of films that feature non-avian dinosaurs (that is, not featuring birds) and other prehistoric (mainly Mesozoic) archosaurs, pterosaurs and prehistoric (mainly Mesozoic) marine reptiles (such as mosasaurs and plesiosaurs).
Liv ...
Notes
References
External links
*
*
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{{Michael Crichton
Jurassic Park films
Films about dinosaurs
Giant monster films
American monster movies
2010s monster movies
2018 science fiction action films
2010s science fiction adventure films
2018 3D films
American disaster films
American science fiction action films
American science fiction adventure films
American sequel films
Amblin Entertainment films
2010s English-language films
Films about animal rights
Films about animal cruelty
Films about volcanoes
Films based on works by Michael Crichton
Films directed by J. A. Bayona
Films produced by Frank Marshall
Films scored by Michael Giacchino
Films set in 2018
Films set in amusement parks
Films set in Costa Rica
Films set in country houses
Films set in California
Films set on fictional islands
Films shot in England
Films shot at Pinewood Studios
Films shot in Hawaii
Films shot in Argyll and Bute
IMAX films
Jungle adventure films
The Kennedy/Marshall Company films
Legendary Pictures films
Perfect World Pictures films
Universal Pictures films
Films with screenplays by Derek Connolly
Films with screenplays by Colin Trevorrow
2010s American films