Even with a long established history and the sort of recognition that means you only have to show people the logo to conjure visions of marauding dinosaurs and Wayne Knight admonishing you for not using the magic word in their heads, new Jurassic Park adventure Jurassic World is still a huge gamble. And now the man primarily charged with rolling the dice, co-writer/director Colin Trevorrow, has emerged from his pre-production bunker to talk about the challenges and some of what we can expect.
Trevorrow, who was hired on the strength of sci-fi indie comedy drama Safety Not Guaranteed (and his avowed love for the original Jurassic Park), worked on the script with writing partner Derek Connolly, and was grateful for the delay in production to be able to polish what they came up with. “There are a hundred different ways to tell any story; finding the right one takes persistence. Jurassic Park movies don’t fit into a specific genre. They’re sci-fi adventures that also have to be funny, emotional and scary as hell. That takes a lot of construction, but it can’t feel designed. The characters have to be authentic, the situations real.”
A lot of the talk about the new dino film has focused on fan demands to bring back the likes of Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum. But Trevorrow is thinking differently. “I respect those actors too much to shoehorn them into this story for my own sentimental reasons. Jurassic Park isn’t about the bad luck of three people who keep getting thrown into the same situation.” Still, one person from the original cast is getting both more screen time and a proper back story: "This hasn’t been announced yet, but BD Wong will be returning as Dr. Henry Wu. He had a much larger role in the original novel, he was the engineer of this breakthrough in de-extinction. He spent two decades living in Hammond’s shadow, underappreciated. We think there’s more to his story."
New characters include Chris Pratt’s enthusiastic hero and the more clinical type played by Bryce Dallas Howard. While we don’t yet exactly have the full details on what they’ll be up to, Trevorrow did drop some information. “The [Chris Pratt] character allows us to explore some new ideas about our relationship with these animals, without losing the humour and sense of adventure. He’s a great contrast for Bryce Dallas Howard’s character, who starts off very corporate, very controlled. Until the running and screaming starts. Then they need each other.” For more from Trevorrow, head here.
Jurassic World will also star Vincent D’Onofrio, Irrfan Khan, Nick Robinson, Ty Simpkins, and, though he’s still on the rumoured list, Safety Not Guaranteed’s Jake Johnson is also likely star. With shooting gearing up shortly, it’s set for release on June 12, 2015.