Kevin Smith Praises New Jurassic World Short Film

The Jurassic World franchise got just a little bigger on Sunday night with the debut of the new short film, Battle at Big Rock. Directed by Colin Trevorrow, Battle at Big Rock aired following an airing of Jurassic World on FX and peeled back the curtain on what life looks like in the JW universe following the release of the dinosaurs at the end of Fallen Kingdom. The short is only eight minutes in length, but it’s more than enough to show just how much dinosaurs are affecting the rest of North America. It’s also getting fans of the franchise even more hyped for what’s to come when Jurassic World 3 arrives in 2021.

Among those Jurassic faithful is director and host Kevin Smith, who was more than just a little impressed with the new short film. After Trevorrow shared the link to the full short on Twitter, Smith commented with a little review of his own.

“WOW,” Smith wrote in the tweet. “If you’re giving that away for free, how good is #JP3 gonna be?! Great job, man! I love the new direction of Planet of the Apex Predators!”

Battle at Big Rock was a pretty big secret for Trevorrow and Universal to keep under wraps for as long as they did. In fact, until Trevorrow announced the short on social media last week, there had been little to no news about the project at all. How was the creative team able to keep such substantial production quiet for so long? According to Trevorrow, it was all about the location.

While Battle at Big Rock takes place in the western United States, it was actually shot in Dublin, Ireland last year. Taking the production away from the setting was key to keeping fans in the dark.

“We shot it in Ireland last winter,” Trevorrow told Collider. “They have a grove of redwood trees outside Dublin that look exactly like the national parks in Northern California. I honestly never thought we’d make it this far without getting found out. The Irish can keep a secret.”

The goal of Battle at Big Rock isn’t just to get people excited for Jurassic World 3, but to also help bridge the gap between the upcoming film and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Trevorrow jumped at the chance to develop the short when Universal floated the idea by him.

“Universal asked if I’d be interested in making a short film and I didn’t give them any time to reconsider,” the director said. “I wrote it with Emily Carmichael, who is co-writing Jurassic World 3. It felt like a first step into a larger world after the last film. You have these animals loose in an unfamiliar environment, they’re disoriented, struggling to adapt. The first people they run into are bound to be camping. I wanted to see that.”

Jurassic World 3 hits theaters on June 11, 2021.