We’ve passed the halfway point of 2019, and are creeping ever nearer to the release of Jurassic World 3 in June of 2021, and while news about the production is quiet publicly, behind the scenes it continues to ramp up. Today, we’ve been able to confirm Kevin Jenkins has joined the Jurassic family, taking the role of the third Jurassic World films production designer (as previously reported by ‘Discussing Film’).
This won’t be Kevin’s first foray with the prehistoric, as he got his start in the VFX industry with BBC’s ‘Walking with Dinosaurs’. Kevin went on to work on numerous projects in various art department roles, such as ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’, ‘The Golden Compass’, ‘War Horse’, ‘World War Z’, and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’. From there, Kevin went on to work on ‘Star Wars The Force Awakens’ (Art Director), ‘Rogue One’ (Conceptual Designer), and ‘The Last Jedi’ (Lucasfilm Design Supervisor).
Kevin recently made his debut as a Production Designer on ‘Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker’, where he worked alongside the Oscar winning Rick Carter (Forest Gump, Cast Away, Munich, Avatar). This connection to Rick Carter perhaps is no coincidence, as Rick Carter served as the production designer on Jurassic Park and The Lost World, as well as briefly designing for Jurassic World before departing for Star Wars The Force Awakens. Jurassic World 3 will mark Kevin Jenkins second time serving as a production designer, and quite possibly his first time tackling the role alone, though his industry experience with art and VFX will surely assist in excelling with the role.
The Jurassic films have a small group of talented production designers that Kevin Jenkins now joins: the aforementioned Rick Carter, Ed Verreaux (Jurassic Park 3, Jurassic World), and Andy Nicholson (Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom). Many of you may be particularly familiar with Andy Nicholson’s work, as he shares numerous behind the scenes looks at his work on Fallen Kingdom via Instagram (be sure to stay tuned, as we have an in-depth interview with him coming soon). What new elements Kevin will introduce remain to be seen, though his experience on films like Star Wars will certainly provide great world building lore within the iconic visuals to be crafted for the upcoming film.
This is the first major news regarding Jurassic World 3’s production team following Neal Scanlan revealing he would be returning (however, we have since learned Neal has departed the project to pursue another opportunity, leaving the position of an animatronics team wide open). While Scanlan may no longer be working on Jurassic World 3, we do have a few new names who are working on the project (though not for animatronics). Seth Engstrom, Benjamin Last, and Andrew Wallin have all joined the team as concept artists, while David Vickery returns as the VFX Supervisor and Ann Podlozny is the projects VFX Producer.
The crew of talented artists will only grow from here as the film continues development. Jurassic World 3 is aiming to kick into full pre-production gear this Fall, with filming beginning at the UK’s Pinewood Studios early next year!
Jurassic World 3 is being written by director Colin Trevorrow alongside newcomer Emily Carmichael. Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, BD Wong, and Jeff Goldblum are confirmed to be returning, with Sam Neill and Laura Dern expected to also join the project and reprise their iconic Jurassic Park roles.
Let us know what you want to see from Kevin Jenkins and the art team on Jurassic World 3, and be sure to stay tuned for more news!
Source: Discussing Film, Kevin Jenkins