Chris Pratt thinks Jurassic World: Dominion will end the Jurassic Park franchise, but the franchise actually ending with this entry is highly unlikely. Beginning in 1993 with director Steven Spielberg's original classic, the Jurassic Park franchise has been one of Hollywood's most dependable money makers. Whether that's due to the goodwill toward the first movie, the mass audience's general love of dinosaurs or something else, there's no reason to expect Jurassic World: Dominion won't also clean up at the box office. After all, only 2001's divisive Jurassic Park 3 underperformed, and even then it was still profitable.
After Jurassic Park 3's financial letdown, Universal let the franchise rest for nearly 15 years before reviving it with director Colin Trevorrow's first Jurassic World. In some ways a remake of Spieberg's original and in other ways an evolution of it, Jurassic World deserves a lot of credit for helping kick-start the "requel" craze that has come to dominate Hollywood in recent times. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing entirely depends on personal preference.
Releasing an entire year after its originally planned summer 2021 launch thanks to COVID-19, Jurassic World: Dominion will likely continue to prove that while changing, the theatrical moviegoing experience is far from dead. Yet, Pratt, who plays heroic raptor wrangler Owen Grady, maintains that Dominion is the swan song for the Jurassic Park franchise. He may well sincerely believe that to be true, but he's likely to be proven wrong.
Chris Pratt Says Jurassic World Dominion Ends The Franchise
During a recent interview in anticipation of the film's release, Chris Pratt did indeed assert that Jurassic World: Dominion is intended to be the grand finale of the franchise. His arguments toward that end are logical. At the same time, his claim could also be part of the marketing campaign for Dominion. While the sequel should not need much help to stomp all over the box office like a T-Rex, promoting it as the end could well get more tickets sold. Of course, there's also the possibility that Pratt is really speaking from the heart and does believe Dominion will be the final Jurassic Park/World movie.
Jurassic World Dominion Already Feels Like A Franchise Ending
To be fair to Chris Pratt, even aside from his comments, many had already gotten the impression Jurassic World: Dominion was designed to end the franchise. For one, it's taking the unprecedented step of bringing back all three original legacy characters - Sam Neill's Alan Grant, Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm, and Laura Dern's Ellie Satler - for the first time ever. They haven't shared the screen in nearly 30 years, and to have them not only back together but also working alongside Jurassic World leads Owen and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) lends a grand finale flare to the proceedings. The plot also sees a massive escalation of stakes, as instead of just having dinosaurs rampaging in a theme park or on an isolated island, the entire world has been forced to adjust to dinosaur coexistence. What happens now could determine humanity's ultimate fate, and that's a big deal worthy of a franchise conclusion.
Jurassic Park Is Too Successful A Franchise To Truly End
As much as Jurassic World: Dominion looks and feels like a natural end to the Jurassic Park franchise though, one factor will always get in the way of that happening: money—and lots of it. While Hollywood has always loved milking a cash cow franchise dry, the last decade or so has seen that ramp into overdrive, with major studios focusing a large majority of their efforts on releasing new installments in existing franchises. Studios see existing intellectual property as a potential goldmine, one with an already built-in fanbase and history of success.
When it comes to Jurassic Park, that expectation is magnified due to the franchise's history of enormous profits. Outside of the aforementioned dip suffered by Jurassic Park 3 - which did still make $365 million worldwide - three of the five Jurassic Park/World movies have earned more than a billion dollars. The other, 1997's The Lost World: Jurassic Park, also made over a billion when adjusted for inflation. Outside of box office grosses, the Jurassic franchise is an absolute financial beast, thanks to aggressive merchandising. There's home video sales to consider of course, but also toys, video games, t-shirts, real world theme park attractions, novels, comic books, animated TV series, and more. Jurassic World: Dominion could and perhaps should be the end of the Jurassic Park franchise. Even if it does go away for a while, there's just no real possibility of Universal letting it rest for very long, especially with Peacock always needing fresh content. The lure of more billions will be too much for them to resist. From a purely business perspective, it's hard to blame them for that.
How Jurassic Movies Can Continue After Dominion
In one particular respect, Chris Pratt's pronouncement that Jurassic World: Dominion will end the Jurassic Park franchise is probably right on the money. It's likely that Dominion will be the last time Grant, Malcolm, and Sattler tangle with dinosaurs. It's also likely that this will be the swan song for Owen and Claire. However, as popular as any of those characters might be, Jurassic Park/World is lucky enough to not depend on any one star to prop it up. What powers the Jurassic franchise is dinosaurs and the sci-fi manipulation thereof, and as long as a T-Rex shows up to terrorize people, it really doesn't matter who those people ultimately are.
Depending on what happens in Jurassic World: Dominion, the door could easily be left open for further stories set within the franchise's world, even if those stories are set in new locations and feature new characters leading them. Dinosaurs roaming the Earth seems like a genie that won't be put back in the bottle very easily, if ever. At present, the nefarious Dr. Henry Wu is also still out there somewhere, waiting to conduct more ill-advised experiments that could result in more prehistoric shenanigans. With a concept as creative as bringing dinosaurs to present day, there's no real limit on what could be used to reinvent the franchise after Jurassic World: Dominion, outside of the imagination itself. Still, probably best not to go back to the well too quickly, as the absence of dinosaurs makes audiences hearts grow fonder.
