The original Jurassic Park is a monumental achievement of filmmaking. It brought Michael Crichton’s famous book to life in ways no one thought possible, and in 1997, produced a film full of special effects that aged better than nearly any of its contemporaries using a mix of CGI and practical effects dinosaurs.
Steven Spielberg’s film was a massive box office hit as well, grossing over a billion dollars worldwide on a $63 million budget, which made the spawning of a series inevitable.
Unfortunately, Spielberg didn’t manage to ensure the legacy of the first film was kept intact, even if he did direct the sequel, The Lost World: Jurassic Park. With the second and third films, The Lost World and Jurassic Park 3, the quality declined and so did box office receipts. Neither were anywhere close to a billion dollars in ticket sales, but at $618 million and $368 million respectively, they weren’t slouches either.
But now that leads us to Jurassic Park 4, or Jurassic World, which is the film’s official title. The box office trend is obviously going the wrong direction, but with a new director, cast and concept, will the film be a return to form for the series?
Even if this is technically “Jurassic Park 4,” it really might as well be a reboot considering that Jurassic Park 3 was made 13 years ago in 2001. With that much of a gulf between releases, it stands to reason that yes, the film will likely be able to wash the taste of the last one out of its mouth, and be viewed by audiences as an entirely separate feature rather than a continuation of a spiraling series.
The director, Colin Trevorrow, is a new talent, known mainly for his quirky indie comedy Safety Not Guaranteed, a rather good film that would seem to give him no experience directing a sprawling blockbuster like this. But he’s convinced that Jurassic World will shake-up the series in a good way.
“That’s something you’ll have to tell me after you see it,” he said in an interview with Slashfilm. “We’re trying to tell a bold new story that doesn’t rely on a proven formula, because the movies we watch over and over again are the ones that surprised us, that worked when they shouldn’t have.”
What does he have in store for the film? It’s hard to say, but with Parks and Recreation/Guardians of the Galaxy’s Chris Pratt as the lead, and other actors like Arrested Development’s Judy Greer and New Girl’s Jake Johnson in the cast, along with Trevorrow’s comedy background, it seems like Jurassic World could end up having a pretty significant humorous bend to it.
Not that it would be an outright laugh-out-loud comedy, but it could be more of a comic action movie than something dark and brooding and terrifying like the original. After all, bringing dinosaurs back to life and have them rampaging around is kind of a hilarious concept if you look at it a certain way. The other films were not without their comic relief, but with this movie so heavily reliant on comedic-focused actors and a director, I have to imagine Jurassic World may end up being very different than the other movies.
How much is this all going to cost? The rumors of the budget for the film are between $150M and $200M, far more than Jurassic Park 3’s $97M (though perhaps not as much when adjusted for inflation). That implies a lot of CGI heavy dinosaur destruction, even if the film is more lighthearted than its predecessors.
That means that Warner Bros. will be shooting for at least a $4-600M box office haul worldwide. That may sound tough, but keep in mind that giant monsters are in these days, with Godzilla bringing in $400M around the world on a $160M budget already. And it could be argued that Jurassic Park is an even bigger franchise in many ways, despite Godzilla’s popularity decades ago.
There is no Jurassic Park 4 trailer yet, though spoilers have leaked online revealing many plot details. I suppose reading those would help with some of my speculation, but really, where’s the fun in that?
Do you think Jurassic Park 4/Jurassic World will be a hit? Or are you going to need to at least see a trailer first?
[Photo via Warner Bros.]
