Universal Pictures intended to beginproduction of a fourthJurassic Park film in 2004 for a mid-2005 release, but the project lingered indevelopment hell while the script underwent several revisions. Following a suggestion from executive producerSteven Spielberg, writers Jaffa and Silver explored the idea of a functional dinosaur park. Once Trevorrow was hired as director in 2013 he followed the same idea while developing a new script with Connolly. Filming lasted from April to August 2014 inLouisiana andHawaii. Like the previous films, the dinosaurs were created byLucasfilm'sIndustrial Light & Magic usingCGI and byLegacy Effects using life-sizedanimatronics. Production was completed in May 2015.[6]
Jurassic World premiered atLe Grand Rex in Paris on May 29, 2015, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 12, by Universal Pictures. It received generally favorable reviews, with some critics considering it to be the bestJurassic Park sequel.[7][8][9] On release, it set several box office records, including for the largest opening weekend, both domestically and worldwide, and ultimately grossed $1.6 billion worldwide, becoming thesecond-highest-grossing film of 2015, thethird highest-grossing film of all time, the highest-grossing in theJurassic Park series and the highest-grossing film released by Universal. Three sequels have been released:Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018),Jurassic World Dominion (2022), andJurassic World Rebirth (2025).
Twenty-two years after the Jurassic Park disaster onIsla Nublar in 1993,[b] a new dinosaur theme park called Jurassic World has been built on the island, owned by Masrani Global Corporation in affiliation withInGen, which created the dinosaurs. BrothersZach andGray Mitchell visit the park, where their auntClaire Dearing works as the operations manager. She assigns her assistant Zara to guide them, but they evade her and explore on their own.
Navy veteran andethologistOwen Grady has been training aVelociraptor squad composed of Blue, Charlie, Delta, and Echo, and researching their intelligence. Based on the raptors' ability to follow commands, the head of InGen securityVic Hoskins believes that the animals can be weaponized, an idea Owen and his assistantBarry vehemently oppose.
Claire and Jurassic World ownerSimon Masrani inspect the park's newest upcoming attraction, theIndominus rex, atransgenic dinosaur created by geneticistDr. Henry Wu. Masrani tasks Owen with evaluating the enclosure's security. Owen warns Claire that theIndominus lacks social skills, making it dangerous and unpredictable. When theIndominus seemingly escapes, Owen and two other workers investigate. The dinosaur, capable ofcamouflaging itself andmasking its heat signature, suddenly appears and devours the other two men, but Owen manages to survive. TheIndominus escapes its paddock and into the island's interior. Owen urges Masrani to destroy it, but Masrani, trying to protect his company's investment, sends a unit to subdue it usingnon-lethal weaponry. After most of the unit is killed, Claire orders the evacuation of the northern sector, while Masrani confronts Wu about theIndominus design.
While exploring the park in a tour vehicle, Zach and Gray enter a restricted area. TheIndominus arrives and destroys the vehicle, but the boys narrowly escape. They find the ruins of the original Jurassic Park visitor center, repair an oldJeep Wrangler, and drive back to the park resort.
As Claire and Owen search for the boys, they barely escape theIndominus as well. Masrani and two soldiers hunt theIndominus by helicopter, but it breaks into the park's aviary. ThePteranodons andDimorphodons, startled by theIndominus, flee the aviary and fly into Masrani's helicopter, causing it to crash and kill its passengers. The escaped pterosaurs converge on the resort and attack everyone, including Zara, who is then devoured by aMosasaurus. Zach and Gray find Owen and Claire at the resort as armed personnel shoot down the pterosaurs.
Hoskins assumes command and orders the raptors to be used to track theIndominus, whereupon Owen reluctantly complies and spearheads the assault with the raptors. Upon finding it, the dinosaurs begin communicating with one another. Owen realizes that theIndominus hasVelociraptorDNA, and it usurps Owen's command of the raptors, becoming the pack's newalpha. Soldiers fire on theIndominus, but it escapes. The raptors slaughter most of the soldiers, while Charlie is killed in the chaos. Hoskins evacuates Wu and the dinosaur embryos from the island to protect his research. Owen, Claire, and the boys find Hoskins at the lab securing more embryos, but Delta breaks in and kills him.
Owen restores his bond with the three surviving raptors before theIndominus reappears. The raptors attack the hybrid, but Delta and Echo are killed while Blue is knocked unconscious. Claire releases theTyrannosaurus rex[c] of Jurassic Park from its paddock and lures it to theIndominus. The dinosaurs attack each other, and theIndominus eventually overpowers theTyrannosaurus, but Blue recovers and joins the battle. The duo fights theIndominus until it gets cornered at the lagoon's edge, where it is dragged underwater by theMosasaurus. Owen and Blue part ways afterwards.
The survivors are evacuated, and the island is abandoned once again. Zach and Gray reunite with their parents, while Owen and Claire decide to stay together.
Additionally,Jimmy Fallon andJimmy Buffett appear in cameo as themselves,[17][18] while the film's producer, Patrick Crowley, plays Masrani's flight instructor.[19]Colin Trevorrow briefly provides the voice ofMr. DNA, an animated DNA helix who explains the park's technology to visitors, a character voiced byGreg Burson inJurassic Park.[20][21]Brad Bird provides a voice cameo as the park's monorail announcer[20] andJack Horner, the film's technical advisor, also makes a cameo appearance.[22]Eric Edelstein appears briefly as a paddock supervisor. A photograph ofJeff Goldblum is used to represent his characterDr. Ian Malcolm on the back cover of a book.[23]
An early story idea would partially involve dinosaurs migrating to the Costa Rican mainland. A team of experts, includingDr. Alan Grant andDr. Ian Malcolm, would chart an expedition to an offshore island and discover the dinosaurs breeding freely. Part of the plot would involve the characters devising a way to restrict the spread of the dinosaurs and prevent an ecological disaster.[28][29] Early concept art also depicted genetically engineered human-dinosaur mercenaries.[30][31][32] Monahan's first draft of the script was finished in July 2003; the story was not set in a jungle, as in previous films.[33] Monahan subsequently left the project to work onKingdom of Heaven. He was replaced byJohn Sayles,[34][35] who wrote two drafts of the script.[36] In one draft, a new character, a mercenary named Nick Harris, would be charged with training a team of genetically modifiedDeinonychus for use on rescue missions and to combat drug dealers.[37][38][39] The concept of a human who trains dinosaurs came from Spielberg.[40] By April 2005, the film had been postponed, as Spielberg was dissatisfied with the script revisions.[41]
Frank Marshall would eventually join the project as a producer. Progress on the film stalled during 2005 as Marshall and Spielberg were busy with other film projects.[42] Additional work on the film was expected to begin following the release of afourthIndiana Jones film, which Marshall and Spielberg were working on.[43] In 2006, Spielberg said Johnston would direct the film,[44] but by April 2007, Johnston was no longer involved as director.[45] A release date of 2008 was expected,[46] but was later delayed to 2009.[47] By 2010, Johnston was involved with the project again and planned for the film to be the first in a newJurassic Park trilogy.[48][49][50] Johnston hoped to further develop the project with Spielberg after they finished other projects, including Johnston's 2011 film,Captain America: The First Avenger.[50]
In 2011, writerMark Protosevich was hired.[51] He wrote two storytreatments, neither of which were approved.[52] Spielberg and Kennedy felt that the film did not yet have an adequate story.[53] In 2012,Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver were hired to write the script.[54] The writers incorporated three ideas from Spielberg: a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, a human who has a relationship with trained raptors (from Sayles's earlier draft), and a human-eating dinosaur that escapes and has to be stopped.[6][55][56]
In January 2013, Universal set a release date of June 13, 2014.[57] Kennedy left the project soon thereafter to focus on the upcomingStar Wars sequel trilogy.[58] In March 2013,Colin Trevorrow was hired as director,[59] and Patrick Crowley was announced as a producer alongside Marshall.[60] Trevorrow and his writing partner,Derek Connolly, rewrotethe earlier draft by Jaffa and Silver while retaining Spielberg's three story ideas. The film's release was delayed by a year to give the writers time to perfect the script.[61][62][17][63] In September 2013, Universal confirmed the film's titleJurassic World, with a release scheduled for June 12, 2015.[64] The film is set 22 years after the events ofJurassic Park,[65] and is considered a direct sequel to that film; althoughThe Lost World: Jurassic Park andJurassic Park III remaincanon in the series,Jurassic World ignores their events as they occurred on a different island.[21][66][67]
Between 2003 and 2008, several cast members from previousJurassic Park films were expected to reprise their roles, includingSam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant,[68]Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm,[69][70]Richard Attenborough asJohn Hammond,[71][72] andLaura Dern asDr. Ellie Sattler.[46] Attenborough retired from acting following a fall at his house in 2008.[73] A statue of his character is featured in the film.[22] Trevorrow and Connolly did not want to bring back the other characters unless there would be a good reason for them to be involved in the story; they consideredDr. Henry Wu, the scientist responsible for recreating dinosaurs, a logical choice.[17][63]
Principal photography began on April 10, 2014,[79][80] in Hawaii. Filming locations there included the islands ofKauai andOahu. TheIndominus rex enclosure was among the shooting locations on the latter island.[81][82] Filming continued in Hawaii until June 2014,[82] before moving to Louisiana. The Main Street and boardwalk area of the fictional Jurassic World theme park was constructed in the parking lot of the abandonedSix Flags New Orleans park.[14][83] NASA'sMichoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans was also used to construct interior sets representing the Jurassic World park.[14][83] Other sets constructed at the facility included aMosasaurus feeding show and a raptor enclosure.[84][14][83]
The film includes a scene in which Claire's assistant Zara (portrayed byKatie McGrath) is carried off by severalPteranodon before falling into the park's lagoon, where she is eaten by theMosasaurus,[85][86][87] marking the first female death in the film series.[88][89] Trevorrow wanted to make it "the most spectacular death we can possibly imagine",[88] while also wanting to surprise moviegoers,[85][90] stating: "Let's have someone die who just doesn't deserve to die at all."[88]
Stan Winston providedanimatronic dinosaurs for the previousJurassic Park films and intended to do the same for the fourth film before he died in 2008.[91] Instead, Winston's former colleagues atLegacy Effects provided an animatronicApatosaurus for the film.[92][93][94]Maquettes were used to depict the velociraptors during certain scenes,[83][95] and some dinosaurs were created through the use ofmotion capture.[83] The remaining dinosaurs were computer-generated byIndustrial Light & Magic.[96] Filming concluded on August 5, 2014.[97] The budget was reported to be $150–215 million.[98][1]
Themusical score was composed byMichael Giacchino, who had previously scored the video gamesWarpath: Jurassic Park andThe Lost World: Jurassic Park.[99]John Williams' themes from previousJurassic Park scores were incorporated by Giacchino, who said: "It was a really targeted approach, as to where to [include Williams's themes] and where would make the most sense and where would we most appreciate it, as fans ourselves".[100] A soundtrack album was released on June 9, 2015, by Back Lot Music.[101]
The first official pictures of the film set were released in April 2014,[102] and were followed by the release of the firstfilm stills in June.[103] During the 2014San Diego Comic-Con, five hundred copies of a limited-editionJurassic World poster by Mark Englert were given out.[104][105] Audiences at the convention were disappointed by the lack ofJurassic World footage; what they thought to be footage for the film was ateaser trailer announcement for Legendary Pictures' upcoming film,Skull Island.[106][107][108]
Twoviral marketing websites, one for the fictional Masrani Global Corporation and one for the Jurassic World theme park, were launched in November 2014.[109] The Masrani website was created by Jack Anthony Ewins and Timothy Glover, twoJurassic Park fans who had earlier created a website for the fictional Patel Corporation; Khan was initially reported to be playing a park owner with the surname Patel. After some fans mistook the Patel website for an official website associated with the film, Universal hired Ewins and Glover in April the same year to design the Masrani website and to add their own backstory to it.[110][111] The Masrani website included information that was absent from the film, such as details of the company's purchase of InGen and about the park's origins.[112] It also featured videos showing D'Onofrio and Wong talking in-character about the fictional company.[113][114]
The theme park website featured a high level of fictional detail, including hotel accommodations, weather reports and wait times for rides.[115] Paleontologist Brian Switek was hired in early 2015 to ensure the accuracy of dinosaur information on the theme park website.[116] Trevorrow wrote fictional customer comments for the site; he said: "It was then that I realized I'd gone too far down the rabbit hole."[17]Closed circuit video shown on the control room monitors was filmed during production and was also added to the theme park website.[117]
A teaser trailer was released online on November 23, 2014,[118] followed by the first full trailer two days later;[119] it had initially been scheduled to air on NBC two days later during aThanksgiving football game.[118][120] The film was marketed with the tagline "The park is open".[121] Marketing continued in 2015: a television advertisement for the film premiered duringSuper Bowl XLIX in February.[122] A clip from the film was aired onMTV on April 8,[123][124] and depicted the character Owen arguing with Claire about the treatment of the park's dinosaurs.[125] Film director and writerJoss Whedon criticized the clip, calling it "'70s-era sexist": "She's a stiff, he's a life-force—really? Still?"[125][126][127] Trevorrow later stated he was not bothered by Whedon's comments and that "to be honest, I don't totally disagree with him. I wonder why [Universal] chose a clip like that, that shows an isolated situation within a movie that has an internal logic. That starts with characters that are almost archetypes, stereotypes that are deconstructed as the story progresses."[128] Howard also considered the clip to be a marketing mistake.[127]
Later in April, three new posters for the film were released during a three-day period leading up to the premiere of the final trailer.[129][130] Trevorrow was disappointed with Universal because he felt the trailers showed "far more of this movie than I would have ever wanted". Trevorrow stated that because of the film's cost, the trailers included scenes Universal felt were necessary to ensure its financial success after the studio's disappointment withJurassic Park III's box-office performance.[131] Universal spent $34.9 million on television advertisements for the film.[132] Companies includingKellogg's,Dairy Queen andBarbasol served as promotional partners for the film,[133] andLego andHasbro released toys based on it.[134][135][136][137] Two video games,Lego Jurassic World andJurassic World: The Game, were released in 2015.[138][139]Tippett Studio worked with Universal and Efexio to create an application titled "Jurassic World Mobile MovieMaker",[140] which adds images of dinosaurs to a background photograph.[141]
The world premiere ofJurassic World was held on May 29, 2015, at theGrand Rex cinema in Paris.[142] The film was theatrically released in 66 territories from June 10 to 12.[143] In North America, advance screenings were held at Majestic 10 Cinemas inWilliston, Vermont on the 10th,[144] before opening two days later in 4,273 venues, the largest-ever screen count for Universal.[145][146] The film was released in Japan on August 5, the last market in which it was released.[147]
Worldwide,Jurassic World was released across 809IMAX theaters—364 of which were in North America—making it the third-largest worldwide release for any movie in IMAX's history and the largest day-and-date IMAX release ever.[148][149][150] Universal relaunched the film in IMAX 3D in theaters for one week on August 28 in the United States and Canada.[151]
Jurassic World was released byUniversal Pictures Home Entertainment onDVD,Blu-ray, andBlu-ray 3D on October 20, 2015.[152] Upon release, it sold nearly three million Blu-ray and DVD units in its first week, making it the highest-selling home entertainment live-action film, both for Universal and of 2015. Across all digital and physical formats,Jurassic World collected $82.6 million in its first week.[153][154] At the end of 2015, it was named the second-highest-selling video of the year in the UK, selling 1.05 million copies since its release. It was the third-highest-selling DVD and the second-highest-selling Blu-ray in the country.[155] In 2018,Jurassic World was included in theJurassic Park 25th Anniversary Collection and released for the first time in4K UHD Blu-Ray format.[156]
Jurassic World grossed over $653 million in the United States and Canada and $1.018 billion in other countries for a worldwide total of $1.671 billion.[4] It was thesecond-highest-grossing film of 2015 and thethird-highest-grossing film of all time.[170][171] The film set a box office record during itsopening weekend, becoming the first film to collect over $500 million in a single weekend, beating the previous worldwide record held byHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.[143][172][173] It crossed the $1 billion mark within 14 days, making it the fastest film at the time to reach that milestone, surpassingFurious 7.[174]Deadline Hollywood calculated the film's net profit as $474 million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs; box office grosses and home media revenues placed it third on their list of 2015's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".[175] It is also the second of three films followingFurious 7 andMinions to surpass $1 million in4DX admissions worldwide.[176][177]
Predictions for the opening ofJurassic World in the U.S. and Canada were continuously revised upwards, starting from $125 million to $200 million.[178][179][180][159] It opened on Friday, June 12, 2015, in 4,274 theaters and earned $81.9 million on its opening day, marking thefifth-biggest opening day and the fifth-biggest single-day gross, as well as the highest June opening day, surpassingThe Twilight Saga: Eclipse.[162][181][182] The film's Friday gross included $18.5 million from 3,229 theaters in its early Thursday showings—a record for Universal.[180] Excluding Thursday-night grosses, the film earned the largest opening-day gross ($63.5 million).[181][183] It also set a single-dayIMAX record of $8.6 million and a Saturday-and-Sunday gross record of $69.6 million and $57.2 million, respectively.[159][184][185] In total, it earned $208,806,270 for its debut weekend,[186] setting anopening-weekend record[159][187] and an IMAX opening record of $20.6 million—10.2% of the total opening gross—from 363 IMAX theaters, surpassingThe Avengers andThe Dark Knight Rises simultaneously. Additionally, the film had the largest June opening weekend, breaking the previous record held byMan of Steel.[159] It also surpassedGuardians of the Galaxy to achieve the highest opening weekend for a Chris Pratt film.[186] 3D accounted for 48% of the total opening gross.[159]RealD 3D comprised $70 million of the opening gross.[143] The opening-weekend audience was evenly split between under-25s over-25s—39% were under age 25, 61% age 25 years and above. 52% of the audience were male and 48% were female.[159] On its fourth day of release,Jurassic World made $25.6 million, making it the third-highest Monday gross, afterSpider-Man 2 andIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. This was also the biggest non-holiday Monday gross of any film at the time, knocking outThe Dark Knight.[188]
The film set a record for the largestsecond-weekend gross, its revenue dropping by 49% to $106.6 million[189][190] and it topped the North American box office for three consecutive weekends.[191] Other records set by the film at the time include the biggest weekend-per-theater average for a wide release—$48,855 per theater—[192] thefastest film to reach $100 million and each additional $50 million through $600 million,[164] and the largest cumulative gross through every day of release until and including its fifty-third day—with the exception of its first day.[193][194] As of June 21, 2015, screenings in RealD, IMAX and premium large format had grossed $132 million, $42 million and $23.1 million, respectively.[195] On Friday, July 17, the movie's revenue reached $600 million, becoming the fourth and quickest to do so in 36 days.[196]
Jurassic World was released in 63 countries.[197] Outside the United States and Canada, the film opened on Wednesday, June 10, in eight countries, earning $24 million. On Thursday, June 11, it grossed another $46 million from 37 markets for a two-day total of $70 million from 45 countries. It was released in 21 more countries on June 12, earning $60 million, which is Universal's highest-grossing international Friday of all time, for a three-day total of $130 million from 66 countries.[198][180][199][143] Until Sunday, June 14, it had a five-day opening weekend total of $316.1 million from 66 countries from 19,612 screens, representing 31% of its overseas gross and setting an opening-weekend record, surpassingHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.[143][200] This included an IMAX opening record of $23.5 million from 443 IMAX theaters in 56 countries, surpassing the record that was previously held byTransformers: Age of Extinction.[143] 3D showings accounted for 65% of the film's revenue (equivalent to $205 million).[143][187][201] Additional records include the highest single-day IMAX gross with $6.5 million on Saturday, June 12.[143] Revenues in its second weekend dropped by 47.4% to $166.7 million, according to Box Office Mojo.[202]Deadline Hollywood reported a 48.3% drop to $163.4 million.[203]Jurassic World topped the box office outside of North America for three consecutive weekends.[204][205]
The film had the biggest opening day of all time for Universal in Hong Kong; the second-biggest in Australia, France, Indonesia, the Philippines, Russia, and South Korea; and the biggest opening day of all time in Panama. It also scored the biggest opening for Universal in nine countries, including Australia, China, Ecuador, France, Hong Kong, and Malta.[143] In China, it grossed $17.77 million on its opening day (including $1.39 million from midnight runs), which is the tenth-biggest of all time and went on to earn $100.1 million in its opening weekend, which is the third-biggest of all time.[143][206][207][208] It also scored the second-biggest IMAX opening there with $11.8 million.[143] Following China, its largest openings outside of the U.S. and Canada occurred in the UK, Ireland and Malta ($30.1 million),[209] France and theMaghreb region ($14.7 million),[210] Mexico ($14.6 million),[211] South Korea ($14.2 million)[212] and Japan ($13 million).[143][147][213][214] In South Korea, the film was released during the2015 MERS outbreak as the U.S. film studios were debarred from altering their scheduled dates, resulting in the film's attendance to fall from that date and the local films' release dates to be postponed by their distributors.[215] IMAX ticket sales grossed $42.1 million as of June 21, 2015.[203] In total earnings, its largest markets outside the United States and Canada were China ($205.2 million), the United Kingdom ($100.4 million), Japan ($75.2 million), Germany ($49.2 million), Mexico ($44.3 million), and South Korea ($43.9 million).[216]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes,Jurassic World has an approval rating of 72% based on 356 reviews and an average rating of 6.70/10. Its critical consensus reads: "Jurassic World can't match the original for sheer inventiveness and impact, but it works in its own right as an entertaining – and visually dazzling – popcorn thriller".[217] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 59 out of 100 based on 49 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[218] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[180]
Peter Bradshaw ofThe Guardian gave the film four stars out of five and said it is a "terrifically enjoyable and exciting summer spectacular" and "savvy, funny, ridiculous in just the right way".[219]Robbie Collin ofThe Telegraph also awarded it four stars, deeming it a worthy sequel to the originalJurassic Park and calling it "methodically paced and shot with an awestruck visual sense that's pure Spielberg".[220]Peter Travers ofRolling Stone gave it three stars out of four and wrote: "It's not the cynical, cash-in cheesefest you feared. OK,Jurassic World is a little of that. But this state-of-the-art dino epic is also more than a blast of rumbling, roaring, 'did you effing see that!' fun". He praised Trevorrow's direction, Pratt's and Howard's performances and the effects.[221] Writing forThe Hollywood Reporter, Todd McCarthy said the film was not "terribly scary" and criticized the romance between Owen and Claire, but he praised the CGI implementation, the film's musical score, and claimed there is a "certain low-key affability about Trevorrow's approach that marks him a likeable humanist".[222] UK film website Movie Metropolis rated the film four stars out of five noting that whileJurassic World is missing some "soul" and "charm" from the original, it is the first sequel "worthy of the brand".[223] David Crow, writing forDen of Geek, consideredJurassic World alegacy sequel and wrote that it gave fans "everything they loved about the first one without trying to change things up".[224]
TheAssociated Press praised Pratt and Howard's performances but rated the film two stars out of four, calling it "an ugly, over-saturated movie" that lacks the "deft sense of wonderment, wit and suspense that guided the original".[225] Ann Hornaday ofThe Washington Post also rated it two stars out of four, writing "every action movie today ends up asTransformers and, even when it's cloned creatures fighting, the same is true here (with an antic dash of "Sharknado" tossed in for good measure). It's not ambition or technical know-how or even plucky resourcefulness that save the day inJurassic World, it's good old-fashionedanthropomorphism. Humans, it seems, never learn. But if we did, where would sequels come from?"[226]
Spielberg said, "To seeJurassic World come to life is almost like seeingJurassic Park come true",[227] while Sam Neill also praised the film and its acting.[228] Several news publications, as well as Neill, noted the violence of the franchise's first notable depiction of a woman being killed onscreen,[85][229][87] andEntertainment Weekly wrote: "There's nothing amusing about the demise of Zara, who's as close to 'real people' asJurassic World gets, and it's that unsettling quality about her death that more Hollywood disaster epics need in order to reclaim their visceral emotional prowess".[230] Several news outlets, such asThe New York Times,New York andSlate, considered the film's depiction of Claire,[127] including her use of high heels throughout the film, to be sexist.[231][232][233] Additionally, several websites have noted plot and character similarities betweenJurassic World and the 1999 filmDeep Blue Sea. Entertainment websiteDark Horizons stated in its coverage ofJurassic World that "some aren't warming to theDeep Blue Sea meetsJaws 3-D storyline",[234] while entertainment website Flickering Myth posted the story "Deja Vu: Isn'tJurassic World justDeep Blue Sea with dinosaurs?", which outlined plot and character similarities between the two films.[235]
Trevorrow said theIndominus rex is symbolic of consumer and corporate excess, and is meant to "embody [humanity's] worst tendencies. We're surrounded by wonder and yet we want more, and we want it bigger, faster, louder, better. And in the world of the movie, the animal is designed based on a series of corporate focus groups".[246] He also stated that "there's something in the film about our greed and our desire for profit. TheIndominus rex, to me, is very much that desire, that need to be satisfied".[247] Film journalists have noted parallels between the workings of the park inJurassic World and of the film and entertainment industry.[246] Actor James DuMont, who has a small role in the film, said "the person [and] the environment are one" is an obvious theme; another theme is "those who do not stop evil are supporting and encouraging it".[248]
The film also exploresanimal rights concepts; theIndominus rex was raised in captivity and in complete isolation, making the creature "not fully functional".[249] Trevorrow has cited the 2013 documentary filmBlackfish, which is critical of thecaptive orca atSeaWorld, as a key inspiration forJurassic World. Captive orcaTilikum, which was raised partly in isolation and was responsible for the deaths of three people, served as an inspiration for theIndominus rex, and the public relations and corporate excesses of SeaWorld depicted in the documentary inspired the fictional park inJurassic World.[250]
To maintain continuity with the previous films,[251]Jurassic World does not feature anyfeathered dinosaurs.[252][253] The firstJurassic Park film was lauded by paleontologists for depicting dinosaurs accurately and in keeping withthe science of the time, but later discoveries have refuted the view of dinosaurs as invariably scaly creatures.Jurassic World was criticized for purposely ignoring new discoveries and knowledge. Severalpaleontologists called the film a "dumb monster movie" for failing to include new discoveries about the creatures; for example, the feathers or proto-feathers that covered some dinosaurs and the wayVelociraptor held its front limbs.[254][255] Many paleontologists considered the dinosaurs a retrograde step from the originalJurassic Park.[256]
In response to these criticisms, Trevorrow said thatJurassic World was "very inaccurate" because it is a science fiction film rather than a documentary.[257] The film includes a scene addressing the topic, as Dr. Henry Wu says that such inaccuracies can be attributed to the fact that the dinosaurs are genetically engineered animals.[258] A fictional review on the film's theme park website speculates that the use of amphibian DNA to fill the gaps in the dinosaur DNA—a plot point in the original novel and film—prevented the dinosaurs from growing feathers.[259] The filmmakers had planned to depict feathered dinosaurs early in the film's development.[260]
Trevorrow and Connolly were originally intended to becredited as the sole writers, and were listed as such in the film's Super Bowl trailer.[261][262] At the end of March 2015, aWriters Guild of America (WGA) arbitration panel ruled that Trevorrow and Connolly would instead share a "screenplay by" credit with Jaffa and Silver.[261][263] Although Trevorrow and Connolly strongly disagreed with this decision, they accepted it after realizing they had no grounds to appeal under WGA rules.[263]
A few days later, the WGA panel also ruled that Jaffa and Silver would receive a "story by" credit.[262][263] Trevorrow and Connolly strongly disagreed with this as well, but did not appeal the ruling. Despite a difference of opinion on the final credits, Trevorrow said he and Connolly were on peaceful terms with the earlier writing team: "Though we may not agree on the specifics of this ruling, we share a disdain for the arbitration process and the ugliness it often breeds. Our conversations ended in a spirit I'd like to think the Guild would support — that credit could be equally shared."[263]
Trevorrow said in 2014 that sequels toJurassic World had been discussed.[92] The first sequel, titledJurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, was released in June 2018. Trevorrow and Connolly returned to write the script for the sequel, which features Pratt and Howard reprising their roles,[264] Trevorrow acted as an executive producer with Spielberg.[264]J. A. Bayona directed the film, which serves as the middle chapter of theJurassic World trilogy.[265]Jurassic World Dominion was released in June 2022, with Trevorrow returning as director. Pratt and Howard also reprise their roles.[266]
^de Semlyen, Nick (April 30, 2015). "Jurassic World set visit".Empire. U.K. p. 82.Trevorrow was asked to cook up his own story. But there were a couple of concepts that he wanted to keep. One was Sayles's audacious notion of raptors working alongside humans. "Dinosaurs hunting down drug lords? I couldn't go there", he says. "But I could rewind all the way back and make a movie about the very tenuous relationship between man and a vicious animal. [...] The other very cool idea, which came from Spielberg himself: what if John Hammond's dream of a fully functioning dinosaur theme park came true?"
^de Semlyen, Nick (April 30, 2015). "Jurassic World set visit".Empire. U.K. pp. 81–82.In 2007 [sic], news broke of a Jurassic Park 4 script by American indie king John Sayles, in which trained raptors take on a drug baron's army. The project stalled, but this nucleus of an idea stuck around, making its way into the next commissioned draft, by Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes' Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. And this is where Colin Trevorrow, the man chosen to head up Jurassic World, comes in. [...] One can only imagine how excited he was to be presented with the latest script by the threequel's producers. He sat down to read it. Flipped through every page. Then said thanks, but no thanks. "It was as difficult to decline as you'd think", he recalls. "But I knew I couldn't make that film. So I said, 'I'm honoured, but if we're going to do this we really need to build a different movie that can also be called Jurassic Park 4".
