Hold on to your butts, because the news keeps roaring in. Courtesy of ‘Reel News Hawaii‘, we have learned that the upcoming Gareth Edwards directed Jurassic World movie is eyeing Hawaii for one of its filming locations. Rumors are circulating that the production will head out to Kauai Island as soon as next month, and have already booked locations and equipment for this outing. It’s unclear if this is for location scouting, set building, or even early filming before principal photography starts in June.
Hawaii has a long history with the Jurassic Park franchise, with every movie save for Jurassic World Dominion filming on locations across its many islands. At this time it’s unclear if this news means the upcoming movie will return to Jurassic Park and World’s Isla Nublar, or The Lost World and JP///’s Isla Sorna – or perhaps even fill in for the other islands of Las Cinco Muertes (The Five Deaths). Some have suggested the new movie may not be a linear sequel, and rather jump backward in the timeline – the return of Hawaii (if proven true) adds a little fuel to that fire as dinosaurs now roam the world in various locations leading to less of a need to return to the legendary InGen islands post-Dominion.
Of course, Hawaii offers an incredible variety of landscapes, flora, and fauna and could also stand in for other mainland regions (such as Costa Rica). It’s easy to speculate at this stage, but the fact is we know next to nothing, and the sky is the limit. One thing is for certain: if this report proves credible the next Jurassic film will absolutely share visual DNA with Jurassic Park and its many sequels that followed.
Executive producer Steven Spielberg, along with producers Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley, will spearhead the project under Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment. Sara Scott and Jacqueline Garell will oversee production on behalf of Universal.
While specific plot details for the untitled Jurassic World sequel remain under wraps (other than ‘militarized dinos’ are not featured), the film is rumored to kickstart a “new Jurassic era” hinting at a fresh new, dinosaur-filled adventure – likely with no returning characters from past films. That’s right – anyone is fair game to be dinosaur food, as the character armor wielded by actors like Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum will no longer be directly related.
The script penned by Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park scribe David Koepp is reported to be ‘leaner and meaner’, invoking vague similarities to John Carpenter’s ‘Escape from New York’. It has been reported that Spielberg and the studio are very happy with the script, which is several drafts in, and as such are very protective of it and do not want the story meddled with. According to The Hollywood Reporter and Jeff Sneider, Spielberg is more involved this time as he does not want a repeat of ‘Jurassic World Dominion’, and became worried the series would follow the trajectory of the Transformers films becoming “bigger and dumber” with each installment.
Pre-production is expected to begin at Sky Studios in the UK at the end of this month, with filming starting in June. The movie is slated for release July 2nd, 2025.
Stay tuned to Jurassic Outpost, as more news is sure to be flocking this way.
