Jurassic World Dominion was advertised as the end of the franchise, though no one really seemed to believe that. The series makes too much money for Universal Pictures to leave on the shelf for too long, and filmmaker Colin Trevorrow has confirmed in an interview with Empire (via SFFGazette.com) that there have already been talks about what comes next.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom shocked everyone by destroying Isla Nublar and unleashing dinosaurs on the wider world, and Dominion was very much about how humanity deals with the fallout from that. So, where do we go from here?
"The previous five films are plots about dinosaurs. This one is a story about characters in a world in which they coexist with dinosaurs," Trevorrow explains. "For the franchise to be able to move forward – because it’s inherently unfranchisable, there probably should have only been one Jurassic Park – but if we’re gonna do it, how can I allow them to tell stories in a world in which dinosaurs exist, as opposed to, here’s another reason why we’re going to an island?"
That's what he's done, of course, and a logical next step would surely be to jump into the future to show us what becomes of this new world. Trevorrow wouldn't commit to specifics, but seemed to suggest the focus could be shifted to some of Dominion's new characters, reiterating that he's talked to Universal about the future and, "There’s more to come."
If that's the case, why was the last movie promoted specifically as the "epic conclusion of the Jurassic era"?
"I never knew that this was the ending of the franchise until I saw the marketing," Trevorrow admits. "Those guys are brilliant at what they do, but for me I think it might have been clearer if they’d said, ‘The end of an era’, as opposed to all of it. Because regardless of the cynical approach – of course they’re gonna want to make more money, which is what Jurassic World was about – a new dinosaur fan is born every day. Kids deserve these movies, and young filmmakers grow up on these stories."
So, we'll be seeing more dinosaurs on screen before too long, though time will tell what that looks like. It appears the franchise has definitely moved on from the idea of these rampaging dinos being confined to a theme park, anyway, but if we aren't going post-apocalyptic, it could be fun telling new types of stories across the globe (there's been some talk of a horror movie).
What do you hope is next for the Jurassic franchise? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.