Last year, twenty-two years after the original masterpiece, Jurassic World proved that dinosaurs still rule the box office, with a record-setting global haul of over $1.6 billion. And, in just two years time, fans will be treated once again to the land of the prehistoric with one of most hotly awaited sequels in recent memory.
In a recent appearance on the InGeneral Podcast with Jurassic Outpost, Trevorrow spoke at length about the upcoming sequel and shed some light on which direction the sequel will head or well, more importantly which directions it won't.
Trevorrow kicked off the chat by promising fans that they can expect something much more intense and terrifying in the sequel, and considering Bayona's illustrious background in horror, it sounds like something that should fit right in his wheelhouse. “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.” He went on to express his excitement on working side-by-side with Bayona and described their collaborative process:
“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 to make sure it’s something that all of us believe in.”
Speaking on the film's special effects, Trevorrow ensured that they've been working hard to incorporate more practical effects utilizing animatronics into the script itself, which should be welcome news for fans after the last film was found severely lacking in that department: “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.”
He also addressed concerns about his blockbuster film's seemingly heavy reliance on CG effects, by retorting that the man-made monster, the Indominus Rex, was beyond impossible to recreate in a live-action, practical setting and opting for near-full CG was the better choice to capture the beast for the final product:
“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.”
Over the past few months, there have been several potential titles floating around for the yet-to-be titled Jurassic World sequel, with Jurassic Outbreak being one of the more popular choices, and while, we're undoubtedly still a ways away from finding out what the actual title is, there is one choice we can certainly cross off: Jurassic War.
Trevorrow revealed that he has no intention of ever creating militarized dinosaurs and considers that concept as essentially the ramblings of a madman, hence why Pratt's character Owen Grady was seen so vehemently against the idea while Vincent D'Onofrio's villainous Hoskins was all for it before meeting an untimely demise due to an unfortunate encounter with a very hungry Velociraptor.
“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.’”
Check out the full podcast for yourself below:
There's a lot to digest, but it all sounds good so far. So, what do you guys think? Sound off with your thoughts below!
Jurassic World 2 roars into theaters June 22, 2018