When it released in the summer of 2015, Jurassic World was a certified (if surprising) sensation. In it’s opening weekend, it became the first Hollywood blockbuster to surpass half a billion dollars in its opening weekend. On June 22, 2018 Universal Pictures is hoping for a repeat when Jurassic World: Forbidden Kingdom hits theaters.
Even before the first preview was released, Jurassic World: Forbidden Kingdom had plenty of cred. Original film stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are set to reprise their roles while original trilogy fixture, Jeff Goldblum, has also signed on for the ride.
Even more promising, the second film in the rebooted trilogy is being helmed by J.A. Bayona, a director whose previous work (The Orphanage, A Monster Calls) demonstrated a keen grasp of both organic storytelling and pulse-pounding action sequences. In other words, like the director of the first film, Colin Trevorrow, Bayona already seems more than equipped for the task at hand.
In Forbidden Kingdom, the film’s original stars return to the island in order to rescue as many of the creatures as possible before some mysterious “exploding” event goes down. That might seem pretty thin, but anyone familiar with the Jurassic series knows that every movie squeezes a mile from a narrative inch.
At present, no concrete plot details have been mentioned for Jurassic Wolrd: Forbidden Kingdom, but … let’s be honest, audiences don’t give a crap about the story (if they wanted a great, original story, the first film wouldn’t have been nearly as popular. Audiences want to see Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard flee scary monsters. If the first trailer is any indication, the sequel just might hit the mark.