Jurassic World 2 Director J.A. Bayona Reaffirms Trilogy Plans, Colin Trevorrow Still Actively Involved

Before vacating the director’s chair soon after Disney’s Star Wars universe came calling, Colin Trevorrow had seemingly mapped out trilogy plans for Jurassic World alongside producer Steven Spielberg – plans that appear to be very much still in place even after Juan Antonio Bayona was appointed at the helm.

Doing the rounds to promote a very different, more intimate breed of creature feature in A Monster Calls, Bayona revealed to Latino-Review that Jurassic World 2 is currently being aligned as the second chapter ahead of its bow in 2018. Hardly surprising, really, given that its predecessor stormed to $1.6 billion worldwide, but here’s the latest status report from Bayona himself.

I think they love The Impossible and The Orphanage—especially Colin (Trevorrow) loved those movies. It’s very interesting. The whole Jurassic World is a trilogy that Colin Trevorrow has envisioned. We’re writing the second chapter, and it’s very interesting where he’s leading the story. 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.

Plot details are still sketchy at such an early stage, though there has been chatter that Jurassic World 2 will be a different beast compared to its forebear, possibly incorporating a scenario wherein the concept of dinosaur creation goes open-source, thus escaping the clutches of the nefarious InGen. If you thought the Indominus Rex was an eccentric beast – engineered using DNA pulled from cuttlefish, tree frogs, pit vipers and of course, Velociraptors – it looks like we’ve only scratched the surface.

Filming on Jurassic World 2 will get underway in Hawaii soon after the turn of the year before it roars to life in theatres on June 22, 2018. As for A Monster Calls, it’ll stomp into theaters a little later than expected but, as our review from TIFF 2016 proves, it’s certainly worth the wait. For more on that film, check out our interviews with Bayona himself along with leading stars Felicity Jones and Lewis MacDougall.