Jurassic World: Dominion Makes Major Filming Change Due To Coronavirus Outbreak

Universal is altering production plans for Jurassic World: Dominion due to the coronavirus once again. Universal will not send the film's first unit crew to Malta for a planned shoot, scaling the production excursion down to a second unit shoot. Malta's islands are suffering from a fresh outbreak of coronavirus. Earlier this month, reports came in that four Jurassic World: Dominion crew members tested positive for the coronavirus, with more crew in isolation. "Jurassic World: Dominion will have a significant presence in Malta with a second unit crew shooting there from the end of August through to September," a Universal spokesperson tells Variety. "Working with an abundance of caution as we have done throughout this production, first unit will no longer shoot in Malta to keep our presence on the ground to a minimum. We'd like to thank the Maltese Government and Film Commission for all their support and we look forward to a successful shoot in this beautiful country."

Jurassic World: Dominion previously halted production due to the coronavirus pandemic. Jeff Goldblum, one fo the stars returning from the original Jurassic Park, explained the precautions that the studio is taking to keep the actors safe now that filming has resumed at Pinewood Studios in London.

"We're headed, in about a week and a half, all of us, over to England, where there are protocols galore," Goldblum explained. "We're going to be very safe, I think. And we're going to shoot Jurassic World… They gave us 109 pages. They invested all their heart and soul, and a lot of money, into making sure that we're safe. I won't bore you with the details, but we're all going to be quarantined in a kind of a bubble, all the crew and all the cast. And testing and everything… We know it's a risky time, but we feel it's good. Sam Neill's there and Laura Dern and Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard; Colin Trevorrow's directing, and there are gonna be some dinosaurs."

In an interview, director Colin Trevorrow stated, "For many of us, Dominion was already the biggest creative challenge of our lives, before the lockdown. The shooting schedule really worked to our advantage – the first four weeks we put to film were mostly sequences with dinosaurs in them. So that allowed us to get a head start on VFX and workshop some of the newer elements without the pressure of a looming deadline… I'm confident our guidelines will keep us safe. The hard part will be constructing a creative environment within all the precautions. Once the cameras roll, we have to forget our world and live in the world of the movie. That may take some practice."

Jurassic World: Dominion opens June 11, 2021.