'Fallen Kingdom' caps 25 years of 'Jurassic' thrills
LOS ANGELES, ( AFP) - “God creates dinosaurs, God destroys dinosaurs, God creates Man, Man kills God, Man brings back dinosaurs,” Jeff Goldblum deadpanned in “Jurassic Park,” released 25 years ago this week. It was a pithy summary of Steven Spielberg's landmark monster movie and the series it launched that left audiences gasping in wonder as they handed over a dino-sized $3.8 billion for tickets over four films.
“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” -- the fifth episode -- comes to the US having already opened in 48 territories, shooting to the top spot in each, breaking several records and grossing $151 million.
“It's wonderful that it's still popular and not yet extinct,” Spielberg, an executive producer on “Fallen Kingdom,” said. He praised the imagination and creativity of Michael Crichton, the late author of the novels, and revealed that he thought of the “Jurassic” series as family. “It's kind of like being a birth parent, and you give your kid up for adoption but you're proud of the adoptive parents for doing a great job with your original idea,” he said.
The latest foray among the Cretacious critters of Isla Nublar -T. rex and the velociraptor are far too young to be considered Jurassicperiod animals -- involves the high-octane action that audiences have come to expect, including all manner of terrifying therapods and oversized marine predators. Isla Nublar's long-dormant volcano has awoken and is spewing lava, threatening another mass extinction.
A sixth film, tentatively titled “Jurassic World 3,” is scheduled for release on June 11, 2021.