TheJurassicfranchise has undoubtedly stood the test of time. Although some might argue that it faced extinction after thefeeble reaction toJurassic Park 3back in 2001, Spielberg and franchise newcomerColin Trevorrowfigured out a way to resuscitate the franchise with 2015’sJurassic World. With an intelligent story written byPlanet of the ApesscribesRick Jaffa and Amanda Silver,Jurassic Worldrevitalized the franchise and brought it to a whole new generation.
The appetite for dino content has never been stronger; merchandise sales went through the roof, a live-action tour was announced, multiple games were released, and theJurassicfranchise is set to conclude in a few months with this year’sJurassic World: Dominion. But what comes next?
It’s highly unlikely thatUniversal will let this franchise lie dormantfor long-it’s one of the few properties in the studio’s corner that consistently delivers at the box office and ancillary market. The book – which the original and revived movies are based on – has a lot of plot lines that have not been adapted to the films yet, leaving for a lot more stories to be utilized in various mediums.
It’s a Whole New Jurassic World
At the end ofJurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, audiences found out that the technology that brought dinosaurs back from dusty graves is now out in the world.Director Trevorrow has teasedthat the new movie will be a science fiction thriller with a new rival company creating dinosaurs (although some of these creations seem to be feathered and scientifically accurate). This technology is now open-source, allowing practically any billionaire to swoop in and create dinosaurs for many unscrupulous needs.
Unused scripts for a since canceledJurassic Park 4involved dinosaurs being hybridized with humans, and perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise that this was canceled. Another script focused on dinosaurs being used in the military. So there really are many ways the story can go. That said, from what the recently released trailer depicted, it would seem that dinosaurs have realized their full genetic potential and can now asexually breed. This leaves the door wide open for a whole range of directions for where the franchise can go.
The creative team can begin to look at spinoffs focusing on smaller stories that took place within this new world, perhaps even exploring major events that would happen as a result of mass dinosaur-ification of the world. Of course,Dominioncould potentially truly end this series by quite possibly introducing a disease that could wipe out all living dinosaurs. This was a concept that was explored in the novels, but let’s be honest, Universal would not let this happen to one of its prized possessions.
Related:Jurassic World 3 Isn’t the End of the Franchise, But the Start of a New EraThe Lysine Contingency
Michael Crichton’s novel went into great detail to explain the lysine contingency. This concept involved dinosaurs needing the amino acid lysine to be artificially supplied through Jurassic Park vets as the dinosaurs were genetically bred to lack this amino profile. The sequel to the novel,The Lost World, highlights that dinosaurs could survive by consuming soybeans. This entire concept is largely absent in theWorldfranchise, and we see dinosaurs freely thriving in the modern world at large. If life truly did find a way, there is no practical way of taking dinosaurs out of our ecosystem.
InGen (the company that initially began manufacturing dinosaurs) has truly opened a Pandora’s Box and set a new world order in motion, bad for humans but brilliant for more plot points! Thus, the only logical place for the Jurassic franchise to go is a prestige streaming show.Star Warssuccessfully did it withThe Mandalorianon Disney+. There’s no reason forJurassic Parknot to follow this blueprint. Universal could potentially commission multiple different streaming shows and seasons that could feature one or more (or brand new) characters trying to quell a dino outbreak.
Speaking of outbreak, they can even delve deeper into the science/business side of things and focus on the rise of Biosyn – the Samsung to InGen’s Apple. This alone could span a multi-season show and be heavily featured as a key plotline in the original novels.
Go Back to the Beginning?
A potential direction that fans have been clamoring for a while about now is the idea of going back to the beginning. Nostalgia is all the rage now, so what if Universal decided to explore the lead to the actual creation of Jurassic Park? It could be a big-budget film set in the ’90s featuring the initial setup of the park. A handful of games and comics have explored this timeline, but it hasn’t translated over to the mainstream. A new series of films focusing on the rise of Jurassic Park (maybe even a film set after the aftermath, chronicling the rise of Jurassic World) could be incredibly successful. They could bookend the whole series pretty well.
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With the apparent franchise finale a few months away now,Dominion’sending may or may not closea lot of doors for theJurassicseries. On the one hand, audiences are getting a wee bit tired of the bombastic nature of these films, but on the other hand,Jurassicis an evergreen franchise with a lot of fans (and a lot of money to be made). So really, it all depends on the direction that new franchise architect Colin Trevorrow wants to go. The idea of going back to the past to show how things came to be is appealing, but what’s so particularly appealing is giving legacy characters and potential stories their own prestige on streaming platforms. So, theJurassicfranchise is far from dead. It’s the precipice of evolving into something way bigger and with way more teeth.
