The original Jurassic Park trio of Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum will be in the entirety of Jurassic World: Dominion, according to director Colin Trevorrow. Goldblum reprised his beloved role as Ian Malcom in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and he’ll be joined by his former costars when Alan Grant (Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Dern) return in the upcoming sequel. When older characters are brought back in major franchises, it’s often in the form of small cameos, but according to Trevorrow, the original trio are major players in the events of Jurassic World 3.
Sattler, Malcom and Grant were all created by Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton for his original novel, though they were all changed a bit in their transition from the page to the screen. They continued to be the lead protagonists through the original trilogy of films, with Malcom taking the starring role in The Lost World, and Grant returning as the main character of Jurassic Park III, which also featured a cameo by Dern’s Sattler. The series has always been mainly about dinosaurs and god-complex philosophy, but it's also about the characters, and all three initial protagonists have remained incredibly popular over the years.
The news that Goldblum, Neill and Dern will all be reuniting in Jurassic World 3 was incredibly exciting when it was first announced, and according to Trevorrow, their role in the film will be far more than a simple cameo. In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, the director revealed that the original trio will be in the whole movie, and that they are central to Dominion’s overarching story. Read Trevorrow’s quote below.
“I feel like we’ll want people to come see the movie to see the context of it, but they are in the whole movie. They are major characters and they go on an adventure together, and they collide with our modern characters. It is a celebration of everything that Michael Crichton created, and what Steven created, and what the other directors contributed to this over the years. I really felt like it was an opportunity to bring everything together and, hopefully, clarify why we’ve been telling this story for so long. That’s what it was really all about.”
For fans of the original Jurassic Park, a big role for the older characters is great news. As the end of a second trilogy, Jurassic World 3 will in many ways be a capstone to the entire franchise thus far. Looping back around to the story and themes of the early films wouldn’t work without the original trio returning in major roles, and it sounds like Trevorrow and the rest of the team are doing a good job of centering Malcom, Sattler and Grant.
So far, Dominion seems to be shaping up to be a proper finale to the whole Jurassic universe, which opens up some interesting questions as to how the story will actually end. The franchise has always dealt with the ethics of genetic modification and creating life, and Malcom, Sattler and Grant have been a big part of that narrative since Crichton’s original novel. Will the dinosaurs establish some sort of harmony with humanity? Or will they be wiped out once more? Those questions won't be properly answered until Jurassic World 3 finally arrives in theaters on June 10, 2022.
