Jurassic World will be a trilogy, confirms sequel director JA Bayona

The three movies will remain 'truthful' to Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park legacy

Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard in 2015's Jurassic World (Universal)

In this era of seemingly endless remakes, reboots and sequels, it may come as no surprise to learn that Jurassic World will be a trilogy.

Colin Trevorrow’s fourth instalment in the popular Jurassic Park franchise broke box office records last summer, starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard in the leads. It earned over $1.6 billion worldwide and is the fourth highest-grossing movie of all time (not accounting for inflation).

Spanish director JA Bayona is taking over from Trevorrow for the sequel and, in a recent interview, he revealed that the plan is to create a new trilogy that remains “truthful to the legacy” of Steven Spielberg’s original Jurassic Park films while modernising them for a new audience.

“The whole Jurassic World is a trilogy that Colin Trevorrow as envisioned. We’re writing the second chapter and it’s very interesting where he’s leading the story,” he told LRM.

“I grew up watching Steven Spielberg movies and I love those movies and the legacy, so it’s a question of being truthful to the legacy and at the same time, bringing new stuff that people will appreciate. We are still six months ahead of shooting and so far, so good. It’s very exciting right now.”

Fans are expecting a darker, grittier sequel from Bayona, who is best known for gothic TV drama series Penny Dreadful and horror films The Orphanage and A Monster Calls. Jurassic World 2 (or Ancient Futures as it is currently titled) arrives in UK cinemas on 8 June 2018, with Pratt and Dallas Howard reprising their roles as Owen Grady and Claire Dearing.

Trevorrow said last September that Claire is the character who “evolves the most” over the trilogy, explaining that the sequel is inspired by a quote by Sam Neil’s Jurassic Park character Dr Alan Grant: “Dinosaurs and man, separated by 65 million years of evolution have been thrown back into the mix together. How can we know what to expect?”

Neil is rumoured to be returning for the sequel, along with his original co-stars Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum. This is yet to be confirmed.