Update: The Jurassic World: Dominion Prologue is now online.
Jurassic World: Dominion's IMAX-only preview is filled with Easter eggs and story details that set up the upcoming final installment in the Jurassic Park franchise. One sequel to Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park seemed unlikely at the time given the story ends on an unambiguous note, plus Michael Crichton hadn't written a second novel yet. But the film's mind-blowing success eventually gave way to two more sequels, Jurassic Park: The Lost World in 1997 and Jurassic Park 3 in 2001. It just took another 14 years for another film to enter the series - Jurassic World in 2015.
From there, Universal Pictures has reinvigorated the entire Jurassic brand, which includes a short film, Battle at Big Rock, and an animated series on Netflix, Camp Cretaceous - both of which tie into the films' stories. So far, both projects have built on events in Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and ultimately, Camp Cretaceous will somehow tie into the events of Jurassic World: Dominion; it's just unclear how and when that will happen. So for now, the only thing audiences have to go on regarding what to expect from the third Jurassic World movie is the IMAX preview.
IMAX showings of F9: The Fast Saga include a five-minute extended preview of Jurassic World: Dominion, which includes three brief scenes that promote the idea of dinosaurs taking over Earth. First is a prologue sequence set during the Cretaceous period, which transitions into a present-day scene of the T-Rex. And it all ends with the new Jurassic World: Dominion logo in amber. But there's a lot more to it then just those brief details. (Note: Images below are not from the preview; only one is.)
Dinosaurs In The Cretaceous Period Move In Herds
Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler contemplated the notion that dinosaurs moved in herds, which is something they discovered was true when they first arrived at Jurassic Park in the original film. Now, Jurassic World: Dominion's IMAX preview shows various species of dinosaurs all moving in herds and generally being comfortable around each other during the Cretaceous period. The preview opens with herds of Dreadnoughtus and Quetzalcoatulus roaming freely in the desert. Similarly to the ending of Jurassic Park: The Lost World in which the dinosaurs came to form their own ecosystem, the dinosaurs during this period, for the most part, seemed to keep to themselves and not infringe on other species.
New Dinosaur Species In The Jurassic Franchise
Universal Pictures revealed there are seven new dinosaur species in the Jurassic World: Dominion preview that haven't been seen in any other Jurassic film yet. They are: Giganotosaurus, Dreadnoughtus, Quetzalcoatulus, Oviraptor, Nasutoceratops, Iguanodon, and Morus Intrepidus. In the opening scene of the herds moving, one species of dinosaur appears to be a Triceratops, but is actually a Nasutoceratops - a dinosaur species similar in look to the Triceratops but have shorter horns.
Immediately after that, a flying-type dinosaur - Quetzalcoatulus - is shown flying around. Then there's an Oviraptor, a feathered dinosaur, in a cave plucking at a fairly large egg (similar in size to the Velociraptor eggs seen in Jurassic Park 3). Once it plucked at the egg enough, it cracked it open and ate the baby inside. A growl can be heard in the background, though it's unclear which dinosaur type the egg is. Shown in the image above is Morus Intrepidus, a small dinosaur that eats at a larger one that is sleeping. Other species can be seen in the background, including a new, larger dinosaur that fights the T-Rex.
The T-Rex Loses Another Duel
It's become almost commonplace for a Jurassic film to include a duel between a T-Rex and another dinosaur - usually the new one in the film. In Jurassic Park 3, that was the Spinosaurus, and in Jurassic World, it was the Indominus Rex. Another duel takes place in the Jurassic World: Dominion IMAX preview, namely in the prologue sequence in the Cretaceous period, with the T-Rex fighting a Giganotosaurus. This is the first time that the Giganotosaurus has appeared in any film, and it will have a larger role in the modern era as well, not just in the prologue. Although the T-Rex has always been the face of the Jurassic Park franchise, it tends to lose without help almost every time, including in the Dominion preview; the Giganotosaurus bites the T-Rex's neck and snaps it, killing the T-Rex immediately.
A Mosquito Sucks The Dead T-Rex's Blood
Seeing the T-Rex duel surely feels like a callback to the previous duels in the series, but it's what happens next that's the biggest part of Jurassic World: Dominion's prologue sequence. In the original Jurassic Park film, Spielberg relied on an animated sequence to show how they obtained dinosaur DNA - extracting the blood from fossilized mosquitos that had sucked the blood of dinosaurs millions of years before. Unfortunately, there was only so much the filmmakers could do at the time given the technology; Jurassic World: Dominion finally brings that animation to life in the prologue. As the T-Rex dies and its pupil dilates, a mosquito lands on it and sucks its blood, then flies away. It's a subtle yet important scene that sets up the entire franchise, and does what Spielberg only dreamed of doing in the early 1990s. Furthermore, director Colin Trevorrow has confirmed that this is the original T-Rex that provided the DNA for the clone that has rampaged the franchise since the very beginning.
"65 Million Years Later"
Taking into account Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom's ending, in which the dinosaurs escaped the Lockwood mansion and began roaming free in the wilderness, it's easily mistakable that the opening sequence takes place in the present day; however, the "65 Million Years Later" card, which comes comes as the scene transitions from the past to the present, explains that the prologue is set in the Cretaceous period. It's important to note that while the film series is about dinosaurs and is titled "Jurassic", the idea that dinosaurs went extinct during that period is false; they died off during the Cretaceous era, which was 65 million years ago.
Fallen Kingdom's T-Rex Is Being Hunted
In the present day, a helicopter is seen flying over the wilderness in search of a T-Rex - the same one that was taken from Isla Nublar in Fallen Kingdom. The scene and the events of the film itself are set four years after Fallen Kingdom, taking place in the same year the movie releases in theaters in 2022. The scene highlights the fact that dinosaurs are still on the loose in the world and haven't been caught for four years in the Sierra Nevada wilderness. The Jurassic World short film, Battle at Big Rock, revealed that much, but it turns out that wasn't a one-off case. Dinosaurs are taking back the Earth, little by little.
The T-Rex's Rampage Includes A Jurassic Park Easter Egg
The T-Rex makes its way into a drive-in movie theater as the helicopter catches up to it. Not only is the scene partially on-the-nose due to the pandemic, but overall, the sequence exemplifies that dinosaurs now present a danger to everyone. A Pterosaur, T-Rex, or Velociraptor can show up at any time, just like the T-Rex does here. But in this particular scene, in which people are mainly running and screaming, the dinosaur flips over a car - with two people inside - that heavily mimics what happened to Lex and Timmy in the original Jurassic Park at the T-Rex paddock. Even the way the car is pushed out of the way is reminiscent of what was shown in 1993.
Jurassic World's Humor Is Still In Dominion
While the original Jurassic Park films had their fair share of subtle humor, the comedic elements in the Jurassic World trilogy have been more overt, particularly in 2015's Jurassic World. A blend of that overtness and subtlety is included in the Jurassic World: Dominion preview, with quick shots of couples kissing and people sharing food while the T-Rex wreaks havoc in the background. It's a brief scene, but it shows that the humor will still be to balance out the more thrilling scenes.
The Iconic T-Rex Roar
One of the best and most recognizable aspects of the Jurassic Park franchise is seeing the T-Rex lean down and roar. It's been shown in practically every film - including at the ends of both Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - and it's back again in the beginning of Jurassic World: Dominion. After the T-Rex makes its way through the drive-in, it walks up to the front of the movie theater screen and roars loudly, as people try to get away in their cars. That's when the police in the helicopter try hitting the T-Rex with a large tranquilizer, but they miss and hit a car. When the T-Rex slowly walks off screen, the modern-day sequence ends and a brief sizzle reel begins to wrap up the preview.
Dinosaurs Are Everywhere In Jurassic World: Dominion
The T-Rex wiping out a drive-in movie theater is only one example of how the dinosaurs begin to rule the Earth in Jurassic World: Dominion. The first scene in the sizzle reel shows footage from a person's phone of a Gallimimus in a neighborhood. (The Gallimimus is a species that Alan, Timmy, and Lex see "flocking" in Jurassic Park out in the open field.) At the end of Fallen Kingdom, the raptor Blue, who returned in Camp Cretaceous season 3, is seen overlooking a neighborhood, implying that dinosaurs will show up around people's homes like coyotes, bears, and other animals often do. The Gallimimus in the Jurassic World: Dominion preview proves that. Since this scene is taken from someone's phone, it's possible that the film will have a news sequence that reveals what the dinosaurs have been up to since the previous film, just like how the shot of the Mosasaurus at the beach was briefly shown along with other clips at the end of Fallen Kingdom.
Jurassic World: Dominion Includes Battle At Big Rock
The second scene in the sizzle reel brings back Battle at Big Rock, the Jurassic World short film that released in 2019. In that story, an Allosaurus attacked a group of campers and flipped over their van at one point. Trevorrow told Screen Rant that this scene briefly shows that moment from a new perspective, from another camper who witnessed the dinosaur flipping over the van. Battle at Big Rock's story takes place three years before the events of Jurassic World: Dominion, so it wouldn't be shown as part of the story but rather as a snippet of what's happened over the past four years.
Jurassic World's Mosasaurus Returns In Dominion
The final scene brings back the Mosasaurus, one of the new dinosaurs revealed in Jurassic World who briefly returned in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. To drive home the point that dinosaurs are everywhere now, not just in Sierra Nevada, the Mosasaurus breaches the water and bites down on a trawler's crab-filled fishing net. It's unclear where the Mosasaurus is in the world, but it's fair to say somewhere in the Pacific Ocean since that's where Isla Nublar is, unless the Mosasaurus has made its way to the Atlantic.
Jurassic World: Dominion's Logo In Amber
The Jurassic World: Dominion IMAX preview ends with the film's logo in amber; it's the official logo for the film that was released in October 2020. For a short while, Universal used the original film's logo for Dominion, instead of bringing back the blue-and-grey logo that's been used for the Jurassic World trilogy thus far. At the time of the poster's release, it seemed the filmmakers wanted to make a statement on this being the end of the franchise as a whole, but given a mosquito was shown sucking the T-Rex's blood earlier in the preview, there could be a deeper meaning behind the callbacks to John Hammond's cane. Jurassic World: Dominion may in fact reveal more of the history of Jurassic Park, which is why so many characters from the original film are returning in the new sequel.
