Jurassic World: Dominion, Other Universal Movies Halt Production Due to Coronavirus

Universal has shut down production on its upcoming live-action feature films amid fears about the spread of the new coronavirus and COVID-19. This is the latest in a string of shutdowns by major studios, including Disney, Netflix, Sony, and others. This is on top of delays to the release of finished movies from different studios, including A Quiet Place Part II and The New Mutants. The biggest film affected is Jurassic World: Dominion, the end of a trilogy of films that revived Universal's Jurassic Park franchise. The film began shooting in London in February. Other Universal productions ramping down include boxing drama Flint Strong and an untitled Billy Eichner film.

Jurassic World: Dominion is the follow-up to Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The film sees Bryce Dallas-Howard and Chris Pratt both returning to star in the film. They're joined by the returning stars of the original Jurassic Park: Sam Neil, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum. There's reason to believe that the core three aren't the only Jurassic Park stars coming back in Jurassic World: Dominion. Pratt has said he expects "everyone" to return.

"Man, I can't tell you anything, but I can tell you it's going to blow your mind," Pratt said. "It's going to be the biggest and best yet. They spared no expense and they're bringing everybody back... Yes, I had to keep it secret a long time. I'm a professional secret keeper in these movies."

Pratt has even gone as far as to compare Jurassic World: Dominion to Avengers: Endgame. "This feels like [the end]. It's got everybody," Pratt said during an appearance on The Ellen Show. "It's got pretty much everybody in it, maybe I just blew it but I don't care. I know that like all the cast from the original Jurassic Park is coming back and so it's going to feel very much like how [Avengers:] Endgame brought everything together at Marvel."

Jurassic World: Dominion director Colin Trevorrow recently broke down why they finally made the decision to bring back the original Jurassic Park stars, and why it didn't happen sooner.

"We'd have had to come up with a reason why Ellie, Malcolm and Grant all went to the theme park on the exact same day it broke down – again," Trevorrow said regarding their absence in the first film. "The next film allows the legacy characters to be a part of the story in an organic way. Emily Carmichael and I call it Jurassic Park VI because it is."

"You start asking the most basic questions: who are these people now?" Trevorrow said. "What do they make of the new world they're living in, and how do they feel about being part of its history? Ultimately it will be in collaboration with the actors. They know and love these characters. We'll do it together."

Jurassic World 3 is scheduled to hits theaters on June 11th, 2021.