The Jurassic Park franchise has been celebrating hard this year. With the release of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdomdominating the Summer box office, 2017 also marks 25 years since the original movie captivated audiences, with fans being treated to a three day celebration at Universal Studios Hollywood.
But topping all of that is this 25 foot statue of Jeff Goldblum, which was erected on the banks of the River Thames in London just this morning.
Sitting just in front of Tower Bridge, the statue was commissioned by Now TV – who wanted to celebrate Jurassic Park in their own unique, yet sexy way.
25 years ago, Jurassic Park (and one of the best moments in movie history) was born ??
Featuring Dr. Ian Malcolm’s all-black clothing complete with unbuttoned shirt, the statue replicates the character’s iconic pose during the third act of the movie.
Fans living in or visiting London will have the chance to see this statue up close until July 26, where it will then no doubt become part of Jurassic World: The Exhibition.
Be sure to share your photos with us if you’re lucky enough to see #JurassicJeff!
Today, Mondo Games revealed brand new information about their upcoming tabletop game Jurassic Park: The Chaos Gene.
First announced last November and teased at the Jurassic Park 25th Anniversary Celebration event a couple of months ago, details of the game have been exclusively revealed to Nerdist, who spoke to Mondo Games Creative Director Luke Byers.
The Chaos Gene is a asymmetrical miniatures tabletop game where you take control of a faction in the park – be it InGen personnel, park visitors, dinosaurs – and do whatever it takes to leave in one piece. Luke Byers explains:
“In our approach to Jurassic Park: The Chaos Gene, we took many of our favorite elements of a traditional dungeon crawl style board game and spliced them with one of our favorite films of all time. The goal was to create something truly unique and incredibly fun to play.”
This 2-4 player game allows you to choose from one of the four factions, including InGen, park visitors, Velociraptors, or the Queen of the island, Lady Rex.
Each of the factions have their own unique objectives that affect the gameplay for example, InGen want to keep the park running to ensure their investment is safe, the park visitors’ goal is to survive, the Velociraptors have one goal: seek and destroy, and the T. rex is ‘hungry for victory’.
Set on Isla Nublar, the game will feature detailed miniatures of your favorite characters as seen above, with artwork by the talented Matthew Woodson.
If you’re as San Diego Comic Con next weekend then be sure to head to booth #435 for a first in-person glimpse at the game box. You will also be able to grab an exclusive patch featuring one of the game’s factions:
Will you be picking up a copy of Jurassic Park: The Chaos Gene? The tabletop game is set for a release this fall on both Mondo’s website and at local game stores!
Welcome to Liam’s Jurassic World! Since 2015 the For The Win Project has been providing children who are disabled, disadvantaged and seriously ill the opportunity to BE their favourite heroes, and 9 year old Liam would like to welcome you to his Kingdom!
Thankfully now in remission, Liam has been battling cancer since he was only 5 years old. The Jurassic movies helped Liam get through many of his tough days battling luekemia, and also inspired him to follow in Dr. Grant’s footsteps and become a Paleontologist!
The For The Win Project has been working with Liam and his family to provide a unique opportunity to star in his own Jurassic World movie trailer and feature on the poster alongside the one and only Raptor Wrangler Owen Grady!
With a photoshoot guided by Chris Pratt himself, Liam’s movie poster was brought to the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom set by For The Win founders Jesse and Jaimie to celebrate the news of Liam being in remission with the cast and crew! The wonderful Bryce Dallas Howard also had a special message for Liam:
With the aid of Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, the For The Win team organised an incredible day at Jurassic Park itself in Universal Studios Hollywood! A Jurassic Park Motor Pool Jeep picked Liam up and drove him to the Universal Studios backlot where his movie poster and trailer were unveiled to him.
He even got the chance to tame a rogue Velociraptor at the Raptor Encounter!
The team at For The Win truly created a one-of-a-kind experience for young Liam, a kid that’s been through so much. He is now a movie star in his favourite franchise!
Paleontologist Dr. Jim Kirkland also recorded this video message for Liam:
In the words of the For The Win team, ‘Liam is an inspiration, a warrior, and most importantly, a great kid’, and we want to wish our own thoughts and love to young Liam, who’s already faced some of life’s hardest battles. You are an inspiration, kid!
We also want to highlight the heartwarming work that our friends at the For The Win Project are doing and help spread the word. Kids like Liam have already been dealt a bad hand and it’s people like Jesse, Jaimie and many others who help to brighten their day.
There are unfortunately many other children out there battling cancer and other illnesses so be sure to check out charities like For The Win to see how you can help, and learn more about it all at https://www.cancer.org.
Share your thoughts down below and be sure to wish Liam good luck with his dream of becoming the next Alan Grant!
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has now exploded onto cinema screens around the world, and the news surrounding the franchise isn’t showing any signs of slowing down!
In an effort to round up just some of that news, I wanted to compile these two news stories together as they both relate to part of the expanded universe/merchandise that sits alongside the movies themselves.
First up is the brand new update to the video game Jurassic World: Evolution. To compliment the US release of Fallen Kingdom, the developers have released a free DLC pack which added six dinosaurs to the dig sites, along with character bios and a wealth of fixes and improvements.
The press release details the new additions:
Added new dinosaurs with unlocks from Fallen Kingdom film: Indoraptor, Baryonyx, Stygimoloch, Carnotaurus, Allosaurus, Sinoceratops
Added new dig sites to support new dinosaurs: Smokejack Clay Pit, Surrey, UK, La Colonia Formation, Chubut Province, Argentina, Xingezhuang Formation, Shandong, China, Updated some existing dig sites for the new dinosaurs
Added new character bios and unlocks to the InGen database: Iris Carroll, Benjamin Lockwood, Franklin Webb, Maisie Lockwood, Zia Rodriguezo, Eli Mills, Ken Wheatley, Gunnar Eversoll
Fixes and Improvements
Various stability fixes
Various performance improvements
Localisation updates and text fixes
Controller layout screens added
Animation improvements
Audio additions
4×4 AI improvements
Various hit check and pathing improvements
Dinosaur ragdoll enhancements
Dinosaurs will now fight on steeper slopes
Various UI fixes and improvements
Fixed helicopters falling out of the sky on loading
Fix for Dinosaurs stuck in panicked and terrorising states
Contracts now show the correct progress
General contract fixes
Helicopters now try their best to avoid monorails
Dinosaurs try to avoid fighting underwater
Dinosaur Ingen DB Bio fixes
Prevention of medicating dead dinosaurs
Logo added to the red ranger vehicle
The new hybrid that Dr. Wu created, the IndoRaptor, is now available to breed at your park – but judging by the movie itself, perhaps this is not such a great idea? You can find more information on the free DLC from the Frontier team here, and if you haven’t seen it, check out our interview with some of the team behind the game:
Next up is Chronicle Collectables latest debut, the 1:1 scale model of the Baby Velociraptor Hatchling as seen in Jurassic Park! Chronicle havebeenensuring fans have numerousways to show their appreciation and love for Jurassic Park’s 25th Anniversary this year, and $250 collectable might be the perfect piece to complete your collection.
This beautiful officially licensed piece was crafted and modeled after the scene in the movie, and measures 11″ in height with a 6″ diameter on the base. As with every piece from Chronicle, various payment plans are available for this item and the pre-orders are now open at ChronicleCollectibles.com!
“The magic of that scene with the hatching baby velociraptor in Jurassic Park remains even after all these years. It’s been great fun to recreate this piece for fans and it’s something that’s never been done before.” – Paul Francis, Creative Director
The item is expected to ship in the second quarter of 2019.
Hopefully you’ve now seen Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in cinemas and if so, we would love to hear what you thought! Join many other fans in sharing your personal review of the movie in our reactions article where spoilers are of course allowed. Come and join the discussion!
At long last J.A. Bayona’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has released worldwide and fans across the world can now openly discuss their thoughts on the fifth entry into the Jurassic Park franchise.
We asked on our socialfeeds how you were celebrating the release – whether you were dressing up, hosting a Fallen Kingdom themed party, or just seeing it with your friends and family, and we were overwhelmed with the responses to our hashtag #MyFallenKingdom!
We loved all of your responses and one thing is clear – the love for Jurassic is huge!
The follow-up to 2015’s Jurassic World has been met with mixed reviews and while there is a lot of love to be given for the sequel, the movie has torn audiences and has landed a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 253 reviews.
The audience score is slightly higher at 62%, but comparing it to Jurassic World’s score shows the love for sequels is not boundless.
But what do YOU think? Share your reviews in the comments section below and discuss your thoughts on Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom with others! Please be sure to stay respectful to other people’s thoughts and opinions on the movie.
With only three days left until the domestic release of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom the release tour continues, with the cast and crew continuing to talk all things Jurassic with members of the press.
One of the more favored characters among audiences is Dr. Zia Rodriguez, a paleo-veterinarian portrayed by Daniella Pineda, and the actress herself revealed an important aspect of her character that didn’t actually make it into the final cut of the movie.
Daniella tells a Yahoo Entertainment-moderated chat:
Before the action kicks in, Owen and Zia are still in the “getting to know you” phase, so the paleo-veterinarian takes a moment to size up the ex-raptor trainer. “I look at Chris and I’m like: ‘Yeah, square jaw, good bone structure, tall, muscles,’” Pineda remembers.
“‘I don’t date men, but if I did, it would be you. It would gross me out, but I’d do it.’ I love that I’m looking at Chris Pratt, the hottest guy in the world, and I’m like, ‘It would gross me out, but I guess I would do it!’ It was also cool, because it was a little insight into my character. But they cut it.”
Check out the clip below:
Another fascinating fact that Daniella revealed was that the original cut of the movie had a run time of 2 hours and 40 minutes, a whopping 30 minutes longer than the current theatrical cut.
The duo [J.A. Bayona and Colin Trevorrow] also made the call to cut the scene, a decision that was largely due to run time. “Originally the cut was two hours and 40 minutes, and they were like, ‘This is too long,’” the actress tells us, adding that the scene ultimately wasn’t “relevant to the story, but it was a little glimmer into who she is.”
It’s not uncommon to hear that scenes were cut for the theatrical release of a movie, in fact it’s a major part of the post-production process and allows the editor and director to find the ideal pacing of the movie.
However, one of my gripes when I first saw the movie was the pacing and how quickly it moved on from scene to scene. There didn’t appear to be any breathing room between the action, so I feel like those extra 30 minutes could have benefited the movie’s pacing.
While it’s unclear if the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Blu-Ray release will feature any deleted scenes, we can hope that some of this extended footage will someday see the light of day, whether in a director’s cut or just as a featurette on the Blu-Ray.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has dominated the international box office, earning an estimated $151.1 during the opening weekend alone. Needless to say the release later this week domestically in the US is going to go out with an eruption, with projections expecting a $130-$150 million opening.
Will you be seeing Fallen Kingdom on opening night? Let us know in the comments section below and make sure you’ve booked your tickets!
Dream it. Build it. Survive it. Do you remember that tagline? It’s quite simple really, and perfectly summarises what a park building game is, and especially what Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis was.
That game was loved – and still is, and fifteen years later we are set to receive the new generation’s version of this game. Jurassic World: Evolution.
A week ago, Alex and myself were lucky enough to visit Frontier Developments in Cambridge and meet with many of the team that are developing this upcoming park-building game. We saw the game in it’s final stages of development and met with various members of the animation team, the creative team, the sound team, who are now putting those crucial final touches on the game.
We also had the opportunity to play the game. And that we did. For a good few hours! We played on the islands of Isla Matanceros and Isla Muerta, two of the Five Deaths island chain that sits near Isla Nublar.
While most of what we were able to play has been previously revealed, the camera mode within the Park Ranger Jeeps is something previously unseen, and I don’t believe the Dilophosaurus attacks on the park visitors has been seen before!
View our full gallery below!
We had a lot of fun at Frontier and we thoroughly enjoyed our time playing Jurassic World: Evolution! Our friends at Jurassic Unicast were also attending and have shared their own content from the day on their channel!
The game is available on Tuesday June 12 and is available on PC, Playstation 4 and Xbox One. Don’t miss out – be sure to pre-order your copy now!
Remind me to thank John for a lovely weekend. Wow! Last weekend at Universal Studios Hollywood, thousands of fans from around the world attended an official gathering for Jurassic Park which celebrates it’s 25th birthday this year.
Universal Pictures, the theme park team, and all of the partners and collaborators involved staged a fantastic and exciting event which span across the entire weekend. We were treated to a theatrical screening of the new 4K release of Jurassic Park, panels with the filmmakers and talent, trivia and costume contests, themed food, all within the lowerlot at the park.
Not only were multiple partners there showcasing their video games, merchandise and experiences, but Colin Trevorrow himself introduced the IMAX screening of Jurassic Park by showing the opening scene of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom which received fantastic reviews!
If you got to your screen early enough you would also catch the remastered original teaser trailer and theatrical trailer for Jurassic Park, which are pretty amazing to see at such high quality. Hopefully these will be made available soon! We couldn’t resist our own ‘reaction’ video for the opening scene of Fallen Kingdom, considering just how excited it made us:
From Friday night to Sunday night fans of all ages celebrated their love for the movie and the franchise itself, and were able to experience everything Universal Studios Hollywood has to offer.
Jurassic Park: The Ride remained open the entire time and some of us experienced it for the first time! Ryan also lost his hat.
Panels
The highlight of the event for all of the three nights were the live panels, hosted by Colin Trevorrow and featuring both cast and crew from the franchise. Panels are a fan celebration standard often associated with Comic Con that Jurassic has been devoid of until now.
It’s not often that fans can listen to the talent that brought the movies together sit and discuss the inner details of what it takes to make these movies, and these panels fulfilled that craving. Hopefully these panels are the start of a more in depth and fan community centered focus for the Jurassic franchise moving forward.
When we first arrived into the lower lot our attention was caught by Dennis Muren, who was standing below the gates in anticipation for the panel. Growing up with Jurassic Park and watching the behind the scenes documentaries meant fans like us admired the technical and creative talent behind the movie, so we introduced ourselves to visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren and expressed our love for his work!
Celebration events like this are very new to the Jurassic Park fandom but provide the ability for fans to meet their heroes; the people that inspired them. We captured the panels via a live stream for any fans that couldn’t make it out to the event, and we have embedded those below!
Friday 11 May
Colin Trevorrow w/ Dean Cundey, John T. Kretchmer, Dennis Muren
Saturday 12 May
Colin Trevorrow w/ Laura Dern, Frank Marshall, Phil Tippett and Jack Horner
Sunday 13 May
Colin Trevorrow w/ Jeff Goldblum, John Rosengrant, John T. Kretchmer, joined by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and Gareth Edwards
With numerous stories from the making of Jurassic Park being shared on stage, the panels were a huge hit with the many fans that attended and hopefully we will see more in the future. It’s a fascinating way for the filmmakers and cast members to share their memories from the movies, especially now that the franchise has become so prominent in pop culture.
Partner Booths
Throughout the three events those attending could make their way to the Activity Center, which hosted a wealth of original props and costumes from the movies on display, and featured booths from the various Universal Pictures partners, showcasing their products which included video games, collectables, VR experiences and more!
Jurassic Park: Danger! Board Game
Ravensburger
The Ravensburger and Forrest-Pruzan Creative team were there hosting gameplays of their new Jurassic Park board game which we filmed below! We partnered with Ravensburger to giveaway two copies of the game during our live stream, with the winners being announced in the video on the right below. Huge thanks to Florian, Lindsay and Michele!
You can read more about the Jurassic Park: Danger! board game here.
Jurassic Park: The Chaos Gene
Mondo Games
While very little is known about this upcoming board game, the team from Mondo Games were showing off their concept and allowing fans to signup for future updates on the game.
We’re expecting more information on the game this year to coincide with a release – be sure to read everything we know about the game here!
Jurassic World: Evolution
Frontier Developments
This one was definitely a surprise for fans – Frontier Developments setup gaming stations at their booth allowing fans to play the upcoming park building simulator game!
The demo they had allowed roughly ten minutes of gameplay, including sending your ACU team to tranquillise a dinosaur and then move it to another area in the park. It gave a good opportunity to learn about how the game functions and how beautiful it looks!
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Toyline
Mattel
While Mattel weren’t on-hand at their booth, the display they had created perfectly showcased their upcoming toyline for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and they even had a number of the Legacy Collection toys on display too!
We love the toy line and have more reviews coming soon, so stay tuned!
Jurassic World: Blue VR Experience
Felix & Paul Studios
This one was not one to miss! Announced a little while back, this VR experience for Oculus features Blue on Isla Nublar after the events of Jurassic World, and shows her reaction to the impending danger that features in Fallen Kingdom. The whole experience is beautifully directed and animated, and may be one of the most magical looks at dinosaurs since the very first film in 1993.
We had the unique chance to go hands on with BOTH episodes while we were in Los Angeles, and cannot stress enough how incredible of an experience it was. Don’t sleep on these VR episodes – they’re a new form of Jurassic storytelling that invoke all the staples you love from the films, and could very much be the future way to tell side stories in the universe (or explore the park itself!).
Jurassic World: Alive
Ludia Games
For fans of Pokemon Go, the team at Ludia Games (who were behind Jurassic Park: Builder and Jurassic World: Builder for iOS and Android) revealed their new game to fans which allows you to go out and capture dinosaurs!
The game ties in with the upcoming movie’s viral marketing, the Dinosaur Protection Group, and is available on both iOS and Android devices now!
Jurassic World: Pinball
Zen Studios
The team at Zen Pinball had a couple if iPads setup allowing you to play their Jurassic Park themed pinball game! This one was a lot of fun and will be an easy winner for the game of choice when you’re waiting for your flight…
Prop Recreations
Fandango
The entire partner booth area was setup with love for Jurassic in mind – with a jungle surrounding and the theme music playing, fans were in their element! The partner booths led to the main display which featured the Jurassic Park 29 Jeep which was seen in Jurassic World, the Gyrosphere and a couple of dinosaurs.
The Theme Park
A number of times at the event, people would ask us why the event was being held in Universal’s Hollywood Park as opposed to the much larger Orlando Park. And to every person we gave the same response: Orlando is a theme park that doubles as a Film Studio. Hollywood is a Film Studio that doubles as a Theme Park. And it was at this very Studio that Jurassic Park was filmed, edited and evolved.
The event was all about being able to reach out and touch the things that we had only been available for us to view on the screen until now, and that’s what made Hollywood the perfect venue.
When boarding the tram to the theater at end of the first night, the attendant pointed out that if we were stood exactly where we were right at that moment, 22 years ago, we would be seeing the RV trailers from The Lost World dangling off of the adjacent car park.
Working with the Jurassic Park Motor Pool we were able to organize a number of the member’s vehicles present at the event for photo opportunities, and some fans went even further! A few years ago Franck Galiègue purchased a screen-used vehicle from The Lost World: Jurassic Park… none other than the RV trailers that are pushed over the cliff by the two Rex’s!
Don’t worry – Alex is fine, he was just excited.
This was an incredible vehicle to see in person not only due to its sheer size, but because this vehicle featured in one of the greatest sequences constructed in this franchise, and is often a fan favourite. Thanks Franck for making this happen! Be sure to follow the team’s progress.
Trivia and Costume Contest
Activities happened all night in the park and shortly following the panels was the Live Trivia contest, in which fans could compete against each other over knowledge of the franchise!
Many fans also dressed up as their favourite characters from the movies – with Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler making regular appearances. People put so much effort into their various costumes and outfits, it was amazing to see!
The event was a blast and was an incredible way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Jurassic Park! Universal Studios Hollywood spared no expense with this weekend long event, and our team loved meeting so many Jurassic fans from across the world!
A few fans were lucky enough to meet and greet Colin Trevorrow at the event, and the members of our team that attended got a photo!
Stay tuned for more and if you were one of the unlucky fans who wasn’t able to make it out to Hollywood for the event, we hope you enjoyed our coverage! A big thanks to Universal Pictures and the various teams involved in bringing this event together – it was a blast!
What would you like to see at future Jurassic Park events? If you attended the JP25 celebration, what did you enjoy and what worked for you, and what could potentially benefit from improvements? Let us know in the comments section below as your comments may influence future events.
If you’re looking to wear something a little bit more fashionable than your average Classic Jurassic t-shirt, then Torrid’s new Jurassic World Collection may be right up your alley!
Released today, this mix of dresses, midi skirts, sports bras and more, allows you to show off your appreciation and love for Jurassic World in a fashionable, yet more subtle way.
With sizes ranging from 10 to 30 (US) this collection is available exclusively on Torrid.com, with some selected items making their way into 350 Torrid stores nationwide.
While the fan favourite Classic Jurassic t-shirt does make an appearance, one item of clothing does pay homage to the Jurassic Park: Institute, a long retired official website featuring a database of dinosaur facts and guides.
Be sure to check out the exclusive Torrid fashion collection now, and let us know what you favourite piece of Jurassic Park/Jurassic World clothing is! Also, if you don’t own a Classic Jurassic t-shirt, can you really call yourself a fan?
The T. rex, the Dilophosaurus and the Velociraptor are back! You can now play through your own adventure on Isla Nublar thanks to the new board gameJurassic Park: Danger!
With thanks to the wonderful people at Ravensburger we got the chance to play the upcoming board game and experience the fun adventures that Isla Nublar has to offer.
This is a 2-5 player game – one player will control the dinosaurs, the other player(s) controlling the humans from paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant to computer programmer Dennis Nedry. The synopsis for the game is as follows:
The first visitors have arrived at Jurassic Park to see its miraculous dinosaurs firsthand. But chaos has hit Isla Nublar – the power is out, and the prehistoric creatures are on the hunt! One player controls the T. Rex, Dilophosaurus, and Velociraptor, prowling through the jungle to attack the humans. The other players team up as characters from the classic movie, struggling to get Jurassic Park back online and escape the island before they become pray!
The board game itself forms Isla Nublar when pieced together, with surrounding borders, perimeter pieces and the central ‘Start’ piece. It includes a number of iconic locations on the island including the maintenance shed, control center and visitors center.
The goals for the dinosaurs and humans are different – if you’re playing as the dinosaurs then your aim is to eliminate 3 human characters to win. If you’re playing as the humans, you must work together to Activate the locations (the maintenance shed etc), achieve your character’s person goal to collect the goal token, and then make it to the helicopter!
There are 10 character’s from the original movie to play as and while many would choose the heroes of Jurassic Park, the villain or even the lawyer may be a wiser choice in certain situations. Each character can use their unique ‘free action’ that helps the team reach their objective, even Dennis Nedry! Ellie Sattler’s free action is called ‘Dino Droppings’ and when played, a character in the same place on the board can return TWO of their used cards back into their pile.
The dinosaurs themselves are (as expected) incredibly powerful and will do whatever they can to stop the human characters leaving the island. The dinosaurs intention is to stay ahead of the humans and block them from progression at any point they can, and with the additional ‘Free Actions’ they can play, there’s a strong chance the dinosaurs with come out on top!
The number of characters, cards and gameplay options mens the board game itself has a big replay value with variable strategies to win!
The design and artwork designed for this game show that the designers at Ravensburger are fans of the franchise and if you’re looking for a couple of hours of fun then this is worth picking up! Jurassic Park: Danger brings back all the nostalgia from the original film and provides a fun adventure for families and friends.
Jurassic Park: Danger is a game for ages 10 and up, can be played by 2-5 players and the designers give an estimated game time of 50 minutes. The game is retailing for $24.99 and is available exclusively at Target. Will you be playing the game? Let us know in the comments section below!
