The Jurassic Park series had a troublesome time figuring out how to become a proper franchise after the release of Steven Spielberg's original film in 1993. The Lost World is just average, and Jurassic Park III is pretty abysmal. However, that all changed with the release of Colin Trevorrow's Jurassic World in 2015, and its subsequent blockbuster success with audiences. The series now has very stable footing, and the responsibility has fallen to J.A. Bayona to carry on that momentum in Jurassic World 2. We haven't heard much about the upcoming sequel for quite some time, and that seems to be because Bayona is currently hashing out the story. The director explained:
We're writing the second chapter. And the challenge is always to find the balance between what the audience is expecting, and to surprise them. And we're writing to it right now.
During a recent conversation with Collider to promote the release of A Monster Calls (a film that we highly recommend), J.A. Bayona opened up about his work on Jurassic World 2 and provided some much-needed insight regarding the movie's current status. Progress is being made on the upcoming prehistoric sequel, and the primary challenge seems to be the balancing act between appeasing fan expectations, while also giving something that they aren't expecting. Bayona has made no secret about the fact that Jurassic World 2 will serve as a sequel to Jurassic World AND the Jurassic Park series, so we can reasonably assume that a ton of fantastic (and unexpected) plot threads will receive thorough exploration throughout the course of the film.
Although very few concrete details about Jurassic World 2's actual narrative have been revealed at this point, it is very safe to claim that the film has already done a phenomenal job with regards to giving fans something fresh and exciting. J.A. Bayona came out recently and explained that the movie would use the dinosaurs as an allegory for animal rights, and the sequel will take a dark and hard-hitting look at those very real issues. The series has traditionally framed these genetic monsters as villains (or neutral players at the very least) over the course of the last four films, but now it seems that the Jurassic series may break tradition by showing them as legitimate victims and allowing us to sympathize with their struggles. That is something that has never really been explored in this franchise before, and it's intriguing, to say the least.
Make sure to stay tuned for more updates pertaining to the upcoming release of Jurassic World 2. The sequel is currently slated to hit theaters on June 22, 2018. In the meantime, do yourself a serious favor and check out J.A. Bayona's A Monster Calls in theaters this weekend!
