As Universal Pictures’ Jurassic World sequel pushes forward ahead of production in early 2017, writer and producer Colin Trevorrow has appeared on the Jurassic Outpost podcast (via Collider) to talk about the follow-up to the 2015 blockbuster.
During the lengthy discussion, Trevorrow talked about working with new director J.A. Bayona (A Monster Calls), stating that: “It will be more suspenseful and scary. 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 was a possibility, so the whole thing was just built around his skillset. Film has become so cutthroat and competitive; it felt like an opportunity to create a situation where two directors could really collaborate. It’s rare these days, but it’s something that the directors that we admire used to do all the time—one writes and produces and the other directs, and the end result is something that’s unique to both of them. I’m in the office right now, I’ve been here every day since July working closely with J.A., listening to his instincts, and honing the script with Derek Conolly to make sure it’s something that all of us believe in.”
Trevorrow then addressed the sequel’s special effects and how they’ll be mixing animatronics with CGI: “There will be animatronics for sure. We’ll follow the same general rule as all of the films in the franchise which is the animatronic dinosaurs are best used when standing still or moving at the hips or the neck. They can’t run or perform complex physical actions, and anything beyond that you go to animation. The same rules applied in Jurassic Park. I think the lack of animatronics in Jurassic World had more to do with the physicality of the Indominus, the way the animal moved. It was very fast and fluid, it ran a lot, and needed to move its arms and legs and neck and tail all at once. It wasn’t a lumbering creature. We’ve written some opportunities for animatronics into [Jurassic World 2]—because it has to start at the script level—and I can definitely tell you that Bayona has the same priorities, he is all about going practical whenever possible.”
And finally, Trevorrow also seemed to rule out the possibility of Jurassic World 2 further exploring the militarization of the dinosaurs, adding that: “I’m not that interested in militarized dinosaurs, at least not in practice. I liked it in theory as the pipe dream of a lunatic. When that idea was first presented to me as part of an earlier script it was something that the character that ended up being Owen was for, that he supported, something that he was actively doing even at the beginning. Derek and I, one of our first reactions was ‘No if anyone’s gonna militarize raptors that’s what the bad guy does, he’s insane.’”
So far, little is known about Jurassic World 2, although it will see the return of Chris Pratt as Owen Grady and Bryce Dallas Howard as Claire Dearing, and is planned as the second instalment of a Jurassic World trilogy. The film is set for release on June 22nd 2018.
Originally published October 4, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
