As Jurassic World Dominion approaches release in 2022, Colin Trevorrow hasn’t just got his head in dinosaur-land – while he caps off his many-toothed threequel, the director is also gearing up for his next blockbuster epic: a film based on the legends of Atlantis. But for Trevorrow and his team – including regular writing partner Matt Charman and screenwriter Dante Harper – this is set to be a new take on the usual story of a doomed island, and one with all-too keen a relevance for young people today.
Speaking to Empire, Trevorrow teased the reasons why the Atlantis myths are ripe for telling today. “For a generation right now to be able to enter a world that is not unlike their world – where their elders have basically gifted them a civilisation that is dying – I think it is the right moment for that story,” he says. And while previous versions of the Atlantis story have portrayed it as a ruined city plunged underwater by its citizens’ hubris, this one looks set to mix that up – set on a lost continent in the Indian ocean (maybe it should be called “Indianis”?), a “multicultural civilisation with its own advanced technology”, we’re told.
For Trevorrow, it’s a chance to tackle a story that has always gripped him. “I’m fascinated with it,” he says. “It’s the only thing that equals dinosaurs for me. I guess I tend to go back to the past. But, you know, it was the first time that we had technology. And it’s at a time when we had other kinds of creatures that aren’t around anymore There are just so many things about it that are fascinating to me. So yeah, I’m a deep nerd for it.”
Trevorrow has his Dominion production designer Kevin Jenkins and artist David Allcock developing the look of this new world, but there’s no word on casting just yet. With Trevorrow’s mention of “creatures that aren’t around anymore”, maybe some of his reptilian Dominion stars will be in with a chance? Blue has serious range – and as we know, she is a clever girl…
Jurassic World: Dominion hits cinemas on 10 June next year, and you can read more about that in the new issue of Empire magazine, out now – order a copy online here.