Original Jurassic Park Stars Reunite for 30th-Anniversary Featurette
The original Jurassic Park landed in theaters on June 11, 1993, with this month marking the film's 30th anniversary. Fans of the franchise, and people responsible for bringing the adventure to life, have been sharing their love of the project all month long, which includes the stars of the original movie, such as Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum, all looking back on the significance of the project and their love for the fans who continue to support the franchise in a new featurette. While this trio reunited for last year's Jurassic World Dominion, the featurette also includes appearances from Ariana Richards and Tim Mazzello, the young stars of the 1993 film, who last appeared in the series in 1997's The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
Directed by Steven Speilberg, the original film was based on the Michael Crichton novel of the same name and explored a world in which DNA could be extracted from prehistoric bugs to revive extinct dinosaurs. Like many other Spielberg films, it became a massive blockbuster, delivering not only technology-pushing spectacle but also lots of heart. The film spawned five sequels, TV series, books, video games, amusement-park attractions, and countless pieces of merchandise.
Despite last year seeing the release of Dominion, which brought back Neill, Dern, and Goldblum together for the first time since 1993, the project signaled a closing of a chapter for the franchise. In the wake of the lackluster Jurassic Park III in 2001, the franchise stayed dormant up until the release of Jurassic World in 2015, which entirely reignited interest in the franchise. The definitive nature of Dominion's conclusion has once again stifled speculation about whether the franchise will continue or what that continuation will look like.
Between the inherent potential of the series' mythology and the profitability of the brand, it's not a matter of if the franchise will move forward, but a matter of when. Even Dominion director Colin Trevorrow knows the series will move forward, while also admitting it didn't need any sequels in the first place.
"I specifically did something different than the other films in order to change the DNA of the franchise," Trevorrow revealed to Empire last September. "The previous five films are plots about dinosaurs. This one is a story about characters in a world in which they coexist with dinosaurs. 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?"
Stay tuned for details on the future of the Jurassic Park franchise.
What would you like to see in the franchise's future? Let us know in the comments!