A new clip from Jurassic World Dominion confirms the canonical status of The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III in the franchise. Since the dinosaurs will be released by the end of Fallen Kingdom, Dominion will be the third entry in the Jurassic World series and will bring back the main characters of the original Jurassic Park, Dr. Alan Grant, Dr. Ellie Sattler and Dr. Ian Malcolm. Sam Neal, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum reprise their roles, and a new clip from Jurassic World Dominion gives viewers an idea of Grant and Sattler’s first meeting in many years.
In the clip (on YouTube), Grant asks Sattler about her family life, and Sattler confirms that her children are in college. Grant also asks Sattler about her marriage to husband Mark, and Sattler declares that “it’s over.” Although a seemingly minor detail in the grand scheme of Dominion history, Mark’s explicit name is a reference to Sattler’s husband in Jurassic Park III, where he was played by Taylor Nichols.
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On the eve of the release of Jurassic World in 2015, the film was positioned as based mainly on the first “Jurassic Park” based on the novel by Michael Crichton. Director Colin Trevorrow pointed out in an interview (via Yahoo! Entertainment) that “The Lost World” and “Jurassic Park III” were not reviewed directly, but as Yahoo! Entertainment described it as “laid aside.” While this may have been the case when Jurassic World gently rebooted the Jurassic Park franchise and brought it back to the box office, Jurassic Dominion seems to be making an effort to build bridges between the entire series ahead of its June release.
Since Jurassic World Dominion clearly states that “The Lost World” and “Jurassic Park III” occurred within its timeline of events, this opens up a lot of possibilities for what might be in store. The return of Grant, Sattler and Malcolm along with Lewis Dodgson (with Campbell Scott taking over the role) already shows that “Jurassic World 3” is a great continuation of the legacy. This opens up the possibility of other unexpected episodes, such as Dr. Sarah Harding played by Julianne Moore from “The Lost World” and the Kirby family from “Jurassic Park III”. This also means that the main events from the two films, such as the Tyrannosaurus rampage through the streets of San Diego in “The Lost World”, can also play a role in the Dominion.
“The Lost World” and “Jurassic Park III”, as a rule, are not the most beloved films about “Jurassic Park”, and “Jurassic Park III”, in particular, is often referred to as the weakest part of the franchise. Each of them also produced less than the original Jurassic Park. This declining commercial success partly explains the 14-year dormancy of the series from 2001 to 2015, when “Jurassic World” finally appeared, although there were attempts to make “Jurassic Park 4” at that time. Given that “Jurassic Park” was as innovative as ever, and the franchise peaked both in reception and box office, “Jurassic World”, directly related to it, is not difficult to understand from a business point of view.
Since Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom breathed new life into the Jurassic Park franchise, there may have been some doubts about this approach since then. It is possible that early attempts to distance them from the “Lost World” and “Jurassic Park III” will no longer be seen as necessary and even seem counterproductive to the inherited theme of Dominion. However the decision was made, the clip from Jurassic World Dominion sends the message that when the film says it’s based on the Jurassic Park legacy started by John Hammond (Sir Richard Attenborough), it really means the whole legacy. Now this legacy officially includes “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic Park III”.
