Just the mere mention of the film name and I’ve already got the theme tune in my head.
But this time it’s for good reason, and not just because I’m trying to fill the awkward silences between me and those people in the lift. It’s because the original cast of Jurassic Park – Laura Dern, Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum – are returning for the third instalment of the new Jurassic World franchise.
The three actors, who appeared together in the 1993 original, will be joining the current stars of the franchise – Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt – for Jurassic World 3. Though they’ve all appeared individually in sequels, this will be the first time the original cast members have all appeared together since the first film, Jurassic Park.
The news was revealed at a fan screening of Battle at Big Rock, as Collider reports, where director Colin Trevorrow announced the news.
According to the director, the cast members won’t just be making cameos, but will have ‘sizable roles’ in the third Jurassic World film.
The plot details for the film are still under wraps, though we know Trevorrow is directing and has co-written the script with Emily Carmichael, who wrote Pacific Rim Uprising.
The release of Battle at Big Rock, however, has gone some way to keep dinosaur fans chomping at the bit, as the short film picks up a year after the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, showing the creatures living in the human world and fighting for survival.
While it’s yet to be seen what the third instalment of the new franchise has in store, it’s fairly safe to say the events of Battle at Big Rock will have an impact, acting as a bridge between the two worlds and potentially setting things up for the reintroduction of Dern, Neill and Goldblum.
Jeff Goldblum had a small role in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, as well as reprising his role as Ian Malcolm in the 1997 sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park. While Sam Neill and Laura Dern haven’t been seen in a Jurassic film since Jurassic Park 3.
Speaking to ET earlier this year, Laura Dern said she had ‘no idea’ whether her character could return to the dinosaur world.
She added:
I mean, I love Dr. Ellie Sattler so I could never say no to that on any level. But I really don’t know, I don’t even know what they’re cooking up yet.
Sounds like they’re cooking up some amber, extracting the DNA from mosquitoes caught inside, and making dinosaurs!
Jurassic World 3 hits cinemas June 11, 2021.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.