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!
If you were planning a spot of Industrial Espionage this summer, or perhaps just want to shave like it’s 1993, then don’t worry, Chronicle Collectibles has got you covered! The replica everyone has been waiting for has finally arrived; Dennis Nedry’s Barbasol Cryocan!
Announced exclusively today by io9, Jurassic-licensee Chronicle Collectibles have again partnered with Universal Studios and Barbasol to be bring this iconic piece to life. While details are scarce for the time being, rumours are already circulating about a functional mechanism on the inside, so you can recreate Nedry’s antics at home!
Last seen disappearing into the soils of Isla Nublar, fans will remember the Barbasol Can as the discreet means of smuggling Dinosaur Embryos out of the park. Customs can even check it if they want! Given to Dennis Nedry by Biosyn’s infamous Lewis Dodgson (Does anyone care?), its mission was never completed.
Can you succeed where Nedry failed? If you’ve got an 18 minute window, sound off below!
If there is one thing the Jurassic franchise has drilled into our skulls, it’s that “life finds a way.” In 2021, Jurassic World 3 might just find a way to bring new life to some of our old favorite characters. In a recent interview with MTV, Colin Trevorrow hinted at a return of some classic characters like Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler.
Trevorrow spoke a little about the return of Ian Malcolm in Fallen Kingdom, saying “We felt like this was [Ian] Malcolm’s return, this was his moment…let him have his moment.” He followed up with some comments on whether or not we would see appearance from other classic characters, explaining “I feel that way about everyone, especially Laura [Dern] in that she never got to have her own movie. That, I identified as being something that’s important. And this moment with Goldblum, because he had this very clear set of ethical questions that he was able to pose for everybody, we just wanted to put the spotlight on him [Goldblum].”
It seems pretty clear that Trevorrow has strong feelings about the old characters, Dr. Sattler especially. When MTV asked him if he thought it would be unfair to fans if the original characters did not make some sort of return, he simply stated “I totally agree with that. I would feel robbed too, yeah.” With Jurassic World 3 still three years away, that is probably about as clear of a confirmation as we’re going to get. The video of the full interview can be seen below.
While Dr. Sattler and Dr. Grant seem to be at the top of every fan’s list for a return to the franchise, another classic character has been popping up in the spotlight in some Jurassic circles. Ariana Richards, who played Lex Murphy in the original Jurassic Park, has been making the rounds lately. Richards attended the Hollywood premiere of Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on June 12, 2018. She also was spotted raptor wrangling with the Blue animatronic and riding the Jurassic Park River Adventure ride at Universal Studios Hollywood. At this point, all we can do is speculate as to whether this is just coincidence, promotion for Fallen Kingdom, or a hint at the return of Lex Murphy. Richards, now 38, has a thriving art business so only time will tell if a return to the big screen is in the cards for her.
What role do you think Lex could play in the world as it was left at the end of Fallen Kingdom? What other characters would you like to see return to Jurassic World 3? As always, sound off in the comments below.
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!
Chronicle Collectibles has announced that their Jurassic Park 1:5 Female Triceratops Bust is now available for pre-order and will begin shipping in the second quarter of 2019. The bust is 19″ from base to nose on a 16″ diameter base and will cost $750.00. 3, 6 and 10 month payment plans are available.
Thanks to the massive success of our previous 1:5 scale T-Rex busts, we are continuing the line with the world’s first officially licensed 1:5 scale Triceratops Bust from the original Jurassic Park. As you will recall, the Triceratops played a key role in the film by giving Dr. Grant and Ellie their first up close encounter with a fully grown dinosaur. At Chronicle Collectibles, we are thrilled to bring home this magic moment of cinema for Jurassic Park fans with this striking 1:5 scale Triceratops Bust
This gorgeous dinosaur bust was created from a scaled down 3D scan of the Sick Triceratops as seen in the first film. Since the existing life-size scan of the Sick Triceratops only featured one side of the face, our skilled artists mirrored the head for the opposite side and then carefully detailed it to ensure it was wholly accurate and not just a mirror image. The result is a stunning portrait that complements our previous busts and can either be featured with them or as a standalone piece.
This amazing bust is designed to be wall mounted and is roughly the same size as our T-Rex busts; 16″ in diameter for the base and 19″ from base to nose (not including the horns). We also offer an elegant tabletop stand that fits this bust if you prefer not to mount it to your wall (sold separately). This limited edition 1:5 scale Triceratops Bust comes individually numbered and will be sought by collectors long after it is sold out.
Visit Chronicle Collectibles official website for more information about the Jurassic Park 1:5 Triceratops. So what do you think about about this bust, and do you plan to pre-order? Let us know in the comments below and on our forums.
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!
Time for some new Jurassic collectibles! At this point, everyone probably knows what Lootcrate has to offer. The monthly subscription of fun, geeky knick knacks has been partnering with major brands such as Marvel, DC, and Star Wars to bring fans fun items. To coincide with the release of Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic Park’s 25th anniversary, June’s theme is “Colossal” and will feature at least one item from the franchise but it is more likely that it will be something from the first movie. Check out the fun art from Lootcrate below:
This is not the first time Lootcrate has offered items from the series, with some previous items including a raptor claw key-chain and an electrified fence sign. You will have until June 19th at 9PM PT to order the crate. In addition, you will also receive items from the Godzilla series, Ghostbusters, and Marvel. Even more reason to get this crate. If you get the crate, make sure you let us know what you get.
Jurassic World Alive is a new app that is sure to grab every dino lover’s attention. In the app, you are a member of the Dinosaur Protection Group (DPG), and you are on a mission to save the dinosaurs. Much like Pokemon Go, you explore your surroundings in search of dinosaurs. Once you track down a dinosaur, you pilot a drone and collect DNA samples from them. You can create normal dinosaurs, or pretend you’re Henry Wu and make some hybrids! After assembling a team of dinosaurs, you then head over to the battle area and face off against other players. Prizes for winning include (but aren’t limited to): coins, DNA samples, and darts for DNA collecting.
The app is now available for Android on Google Play, and for iOS in the App Store. Start hunting those dinos!
— Jurassic World Alive (@JWorldAlive) May 30, 2018
As mentioned above, this game is similar to Pokemon Go in a lot of ways. The game uses your location for placement of dinosaurs and supply drops, and it has warnings about being safe while playing (thanks, Owen!). The drone/firing the darts can take a little getting used to, but the controls seem very responsive. All the dinosaurs in the game have profiles that detail their battle stats, which you need to pay attention to once you step into the battle area. They start you out in the Fallen Kingdom arena, and there are different battle arenas that unlock as you win more battles! Battles get more exciting as you level up you dinos (by gathering more DNA), and mixing up your team combinations. Unlike Pokemon Go, supply drops are not always at landmarks, and they appear more frequently in suburban/rural areas.
Jurassic World: Alive also has a fun AR feature, allowing you to bring the dinosaurs you’ve captured to life in the real world via your phones camera. This creates a fun photo and video opportunity many fans are already taking advantage of!
Yep, that's a giant T-Rex in the middle of the street ?
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.
