Exactly ten years have passed since the last
Jurassic Park sequel, the third, came out. It was sort of successful, but it just wasn't very good. It was clear that they simply had no idea how to move the franchise forward, so they called Sam Neill back and got him to run around, chased by CGI dinosaurs. Spielberg himself took a step back and let Joe Johnston (
"Jumanji" "Wolfman") direct it. Since then, rumors have surfaced on and off about
"Jurassic Park 4" and you know that when rumors start to fly, there's got to be some truth to them.
In 2009, director Joe Johnston had this to say about the future of the franchise :
"Well, there is a great story for the fourth one that I would be interested in getting involved with and it’s nothing like the first three. It sort of takes the franchise off in a completely different direction, which is the only way I would want to get involved." Since then, however, nothing else happened. The project seemed dead in the water. In the same interview, Johnston also mentioned that they might even push for a second trilogy, one that would deal with a completely different storyline.
On the other hand, when asked about
Jurassic Park about a month ago, Sam Neill had this to say :
"I think we’ve told the story. I think it’s done… Stan Winston who made those beautiful dinosaurs died. So, no Stan, no ‘Jurassic Park’ really … [and author Michael] Crichton died too".
A week ago, reports have been heating up again. Exclusive reports on the net mentioned that Steven Spielberg has been meeeting with writer Mark Protosevich (
"The Cell", "I Am Legend", "Poseidon") to discuss potential ideas for a fourth movie. Spielberg has been involved in several projects this year, serving as executive producer on
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon", "Super 8", "Cowboys & Aliens", "Real Steel", as well as two TV series :
"Falling Skies" and
"Terra Nova". He's also set to release
"The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn" (co-produced alongside Peter Jackson) and
"War Horse" this December, both of which he directed. So, it's safe to say that Spielberg is back in the saddle and rushing to get back into the fray. Who knows, maybe he'll even return to direct
"Jurassic Park 4". With all due respect to Johnston's work,
"Jurassic Park III" is the worst in the trilogy. Perhaps if he had a decent story to work with... Still, I'd rather see Spielberg return to the franchise. We'll see.
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