How Jurassic World 3’s Production Shutdown Was Actually Helpful, According To Colin Trevorrow

Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom Owen, Claire, and Maisie hiding from the Indoraptor

Early on in the production of director Colin Trevorrow’s return to the Jurassic World franchise, next summer’s Jurassic World: Dominion, production had to shut down when global events demanded the world be put on hold. Sometimes, when that sort of scenario crops up, it’s a living nightmare, and in the worst case scenario, your movie gets delayed another year. But with the third Jurassic World film, Trevorrow has reaffirmed it was actually a pretty helpful scenario, and partially for the following reason:

The ability to just stop and think for a second about what you were doing, cut it together, make sure that, especially if you’re trying something really new, that what you believed would work is working. And we did, we got to do that. We didn’t really change the script much, but we definitely were able to cut and put several sequences through the visual effects pipeline.

These remarks came from Colin Trevorrow’s participation in the San Diego Comic Con panel Directors on Directing, which saw Trevorrow in a moderated discussion along with directors Robert Rodriguez and Joseph Kosinski. Previously, the Jurassic World: Dominion helmer had admitted that he was working with some of the footage that had already been shot on location, so this isn’t too much of a surprise when it comes to the actual work being done on what’s already in the can. However, another unexpected, but brilliant way that the production delay has helped Jurassic World: Dominion flourish in the time of lockdown is that, according to Colin Trevorrow, it’s helped the production family really bond:

Like with any movie you’re forging creative relationships over the process. So to be able to have this time for all of us to know how we work together, know each other, and then to head back into what will be a challenge, at least we’re doing it with people we know really really well.

This is definitely the Colin Trevorrow that Jurassic World: Dominion’s audience has been hearing about. It makes sense that the man who has kept names off of director’s chairs, in order to foster a more egalitarian setup on the set of this would-be blockbuster, would be using the soon-to-end delay in production to help keep knit the bonds of cast and crew even closer. Which ties into one other thing that Trevorrow mentioned in his details of what his time on Jurassic World: Dominion has been like thus far.

Ultimately, Colin Trevorrow admitted that, as the director who’s bringing Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum back together in a major Jurassic way, he had to convince them that he cared about the franchise as much as the last director who had them all on set together: Steven Spielberg himself. Knowing that he’s gained the trust that he’s going to make those seasoned dinosaur combatants comfortable enough to trust him means he’s doing his job well. If he can do that, the rest of the family should be cake.

We’ll see how the results pay off next summer, if Jurassic World: Dominion holds onto its June 11, 2021 release date it’s currently slated in. And stay tuned to CinemaBlend for further ComicCon @ Home updates as they break.

Mike Reyes
Senior Movies Contributor

Mike Reyes is the Senior Movie Contributor at CinemaBlend, though that title’s more of a guideline really. Passionate about entertainment since grade school, the movies have always held a special place in his life, which explains his current occupation. Mike graduated from Drew University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, but swore off of running for public office a long time ago. Mike's expertise ranges from James Bond to everything Alita, making for a brilliantly eclectic resume. He fights for the user.