The yet untitled sequel to Jurassic World — which, mind you, will therefore be the sequel to the sequel to the sequel to the sequel to the original Jurassic Park — will feature the return of Jeff Goldblum to the world of…Jurassic.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor will be reprising his iconic role from the original, Steven Speilberg directed film and its 1997 follow-up, The Lost World: Jurassic Park. The chaos theory/open shirt specializing Dr. Ian Malcolm fulfilled the roles of audience surrogate, flirt, and dino-theme-park skeptic in the original. And though the same character will be back in this new film, it’s hard to predict how he will have evolved, or how he’ll fit into the realm of the (two dimensional) new characters (stuck in formulaic love plots) who’ve been introduced. (Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are returning as their World characters; The Get Down‘s Justice Smith, James Cromwell and Toby Jones are also starring in the new film.)
The upcoming film is co-written by Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly, and directed by The Orphanage/The Impossible/A Monster Calls‘ J.A. Bayona, whose previous high-octane filmmaking with a nuanced emotional core certainly offers intriguing potential for sequel 4.0. As of now, the film is set to be released on June 22, 2018.
Can they bring back Laura Dern, too?