Steven Spielberg was instrumental in making Jurassic World (2015) the third-highest-grossing film at the time of its release. Spielberg, who served as an executive producer in the film, suggested the idea of a functional dinosaur park to the writers. The film has now dropped a few positions on the box office-based ranking but remains the best among the Jurassic Park sequels.
Universal Studios managed to bring out two more films in the series, but even Spielberg won’t be able to save the quality drop in the movies as the franchise looks for a reboot. He has made it clear that he will not be returning as a director in the Jurassic Park franchise.
Steven Spielberg Won’t Helm Another Jurassic World Film
Chris Pratt landed the lead role in Jurassic World, a sequel to the Jurassic Park films that came almost two decades later. Steven Spielberg served as an executive producer in the film and gave writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver the core idea for the film. Director Colin Trevorrow was also on board with the idea of a dinosaur park.
However, a few months after the release of the film, the Jaws director shared that he had lost interest in films like Jurassic World. While promoting his 2015 historical spy thriller Bridge of Spies, Spielberg shared with Time that he couldn’t continue making the otherworldly and fantastical films forever.
He shared that he was more interested in making films that focus on earthbound themes. He particularly stated his interest in films that have relevance and are related to historical events. He name-dropped the Jurassic World series, sharing that the earthbound films would make him happier than the success of Jurassic World (2015). He told Time:
I can’t live on an alien planet my entire career. I’ve got to find things that are earthbound that make me glad to be on this planet and experiences, when I’m making films, that have relevance and have kinship to actual events in history. That fills me up; that makes me actually happier in this stage of my life than even a success like Jurassic World.
The box office and critical opinions of these films had a declining graph. According to The Numbers, the collections for the three films were:
- Jurassic World – $1,669,963,641
- Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – $1,308,323,302
- Jurassic World Dominion – $1,004,004,592
According to Tomatometer‘s ranking, Jurassic World was ranked second among Jurassic Park films after Steven Spielberg’s first film. It had a fresh rating of 71%. Jurassic World Dominion was the worst-ranked film with a 29% rotten rating. The critic consensus on the film read that the franchise “lumbered a long way down from its classic start”.
Jurassic World Reboot Would Suffer At The Box Office In Steven Spielberg’s Absence
While Jurassic World Dominion was a critical failure, it also gave a fitting end to the characters played by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. While fans expected that the franchise would go on a much-needed hiatus after the 2022 film, it has come out with a reboot update. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo will lead a new set of films in the franchise (via Deadline).
The new film will also feature Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey in important roles. It will be helmed by Gareth Edwards of Godzilla fame. But putting the star power aside, the franchise heavily lacks in substance. Dominion suffered due to the same factor and fans will likely be less interested in another dinosaur story.
Spielberg’s involvement with the film is still unknown but he will likely be absent from this reboot. It means that the one man who could provide some vision and substance to the universe may not be available. The new reboot film might be headed for a doom but hardcore fans can hope that David Koepp’s script might somehow be a saving grace.
Jurassic World is available on Max, while Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is available on Hulu. Jurassic World Dominion is now available on Starz.
