J.A. Bayona says his Jurassic World sequel is brave, original, gothic

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Advance tickets for the upcoming JURASSIC PARK / JURASSIC WORLD sequel JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM are now officially on sale at Fandango.com, and to mark the occasion the website shared an interview with director J.A. Bayona in which he had some very interesting things to say about his contribution to the JURASSIC franchise.

Written by JURASSIC WORLD's Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly, FALLEN KINGDOM has the following synopsis:

It’s been three years since theme park and luxury resort Jurassic World was destroyed by dinosaurs out of containment.  Isla Nublar now sits abandoned by humans while the surviving dinosaurs fend for themselves in the jungles.
 
When the island’s dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event.  Owen is driven to find Blue, his lead raptor who’s still missing in the wild, and Claire has grown a respect for these creatures she now makes her mission. Arriving on the unstable island as lava begins raining down, their expedition uncovers a conspiracy that could return our entire planet to a perilous order not seen since prehistoric times.
 
With all of the wonder, adventure and thrills synonymous with one of the most popular and successful series in cinema history, this all-new motion-picture event sees the return of favorite characters and dinosaurs—along with new breeds more awe-inspiring and terrifying than ever before.  Welcome to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are joined in the cast by Daniella Pineda, Toby Jones, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Ted Levine, Geraldine Chaplin, Brooke Norbury, B.D. Wong, and Jeff Goldblum. 

Adding to the information we already have, Bayona noted that the situation with the volcano on the island makes the relationship with the dinosaurs more emotional, and adds an interesting moral debate into the mix. He also dug deeper into the fact that this sees the destruction of the island and the park, making the statement:

Forget the past, forget all of that you've seen, we're going to face the future. And the future that we show is something we've never seen before. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is brave and original and continues the mythology, but also expands to places and situations that we’ve never seen before.

That includes switching into a gothic tone for the second half of the film, which Bayona doesn't think the audience is expecting.

After an incredible adventure on the island with amazing action scenes, the film takes us to Lockwood mansion, the place where the first dinosaurs were created. It's a place with a claustrophobic atmosphere and some of the best tension-filled moments that have ever happened in a Jurassic movie. It also has a very special tone that resembles a fairy tale, with its castle, princess and even a dragon. I think it's something the young ones will enjoy.

Bayona may not think we're ready for that gothic tone, but the fairy tale comparison is exactly the sort of thing I'd expect to hear from the director of THE ORPHANAGE, a filmmaker who is associated with Guillermo del Toro… and I'm very excited to see how that plays within the film. I didn't want to see another JURASSIC movie that was just the same island adventure scenario all over again, and this sounds like a great way to switch things up.

The director describes his film as "an emotional roller coaster", and he hopes the audience will laugh, get frightened, jump out of their seats, and enjoy this entry in the franchise in an all-new way. I hope so, too.

He also mentioned some of the new dinosaurs we'll be seeing in the movie – Carnotaurus, Baryonyx, Sinoceratops, Allosaurus, and a terrifying hybrid called the Indoraptor.

To read the full interview, click over to Fandango.com – and maybe buy a ticket to see the movie while you're there. JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM is scheduled to reach theatres on June 22.