Jurassic Park: Steven Spielberg Reveals What Went Wrong With The Lost World

Steven Spielberg is one of the most famous film directors in history, and he recently received his eighth Best Director nomination (he previously won for Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan) and his eleventh Best Picture nomination (he previously won for Schindler’s List) at the Academy Awards for West Side Story. Throughout his career, Spielberg has directed many films that went on to launch franchises that are still adding movies today. A fifth Indiana Jones from director James Mangold recently wrapped production, and Jurassic World: Dominion is hitting theaters this summer. Speilberg directed the first four Indiana Jones movies and the first two Jurassic movies, and he recently explained to The New York Times why The Lost World: Jurassic Park wasn’t a big hit.  

“My sequels aren’t as good as my originals because I go onto every sequel I’ve made and I’m too confident. This movie made a ka-zillion dollars, which justifies the sequel, so I come in like it’s going to be a slam dunk and I wind up making an inferior movie to the one before. I’m talking about The Lost World and Jurassic Park,” Spielberg admitted.

As for the upcoming Jurassic World: Dominion, the movie will see the return of director Colin Trevorrow, who also serves as executive producer with Spielberg. In addition to Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard as Owen Grady and Claire Dearing, the movie will feature original Jurassic Park alums  Laura Dern (Ellie Sattler), Sam Neill (Alan Grant), and Jeff Goldblum (Ian Malcolm). The film also features BD Wong as Dr. Henry Wu, Emmy-nominee Mamoudou Athie (Oh Jerome, No), Dichen Lachman (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), and DeWanda Wise (She’s Gotta Have It). Joining the Jurassic team for the first time is Emily Carmichael, who has crafted the Jurassic World: Dominion screenplay with Trevorrow. They worked from a story by Derek Connolly and Trevorrow, who together co-wrote Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

In a recent interview, Trevorrow explained why they waited to bring in Dern, Neill, and Goldblum.

“This is the movie that I’ve been waiting to make from the beginning,” Trevorrow told reporters. “It’s the one that we have spent the past two movies building to. It really was part of a larger story and part of the design. And I think people may be underestimating the size and importance of Laura Dern and Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum’s characters in this movie. It is very much an ensemble, and that [includes] the ability to take these beloved characters from almost 30 years now, and understand how they interact with each other in the context of a world that we’ve really never seen before, and have not been able to witness until now. It’s very exciting for me. I’m having the time of my life.”

Jurassic World: Dominion is currently scheduled to be released in theaters on June 10th.