New Jurassic movie, set for Friday release, expected to boost audience numbers, Xu Fan reports.
The upcoming Jurassic World Dominion features 27 individual dinosaurs, with 10 not seen in any of the previous Jurassic films. The Hollywood sci-fi sequel will help boost the recovery of the domestic cinema market. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
With the combined number of operating or reopening cinemas in China rising from less than 50 percent in April to over 75 percent as of Wednesday, the country's struggling movie market is seeing a glimmer of hope.
Widely considered a booster to rekindle the enthusiasm of domestic theatergoers, Jurassic World Dominion is scheduled to be released in Chinese mainland theaters on Friday to coincide with the movie's debut in the United States.
The Hollywood movie marks the finale and the sixth installment of the dinosaur-centric franchise created by filmmaker Steven Spielberg around 30 years ago, with the old trilogy titled Jurassic Park (1993-2001) and the new reboot Jurassic World (2015 until now).
Taking place four years after the destruction of Isla Nublar, the fictional island where the genetically engineered dinosaurs are kept for the franchise's theme park, the latest outing finds the surviving dinosaurs now roam all over the world, forcing the major characters to join hands to re-establish the balance between nature and humans.
Recently, the film's stars－actors Chris Pratt, Jeff Goldblum and actress Bryce Dallas Howard－alongside the director Colin Trevorrow attended an online news conference to share their insights and unforgettable moments while making the new movie, one of Hollywood's first major studio tentpoles to go back into production after the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a global shutdown in early 2020.
During the shooting of the movie, all cast members were housed in one hotel with stringent virus-control protocols, which included taking nucleic acid tests three times a week. Despite being a bit unusual, the shooting gave the creators more time to exchange views and conduct rehearsals and intensify the storytelling.
"I hadn't seen my family for four months, a very long time," says Trevorrow.
"A lot of us were away from home and that can be challenging. Luckily, we had each other, and we made it through like a family. ... I think we made the movie better."
The upcoming Jurassic World Dominion features 27 individual dinosaurs, with 10 not seen in any of the previous Jurassic films. The Hollywood sci-fi sequel will help boost the recovery of the domestic cinema market. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Meanwhile, China has excavated a number of dinosaur fossils, which Trevorrow says is also a connection. The Jurassic World franchise has earned big success in the country, with the first movie raking in 1.4 billion yuan ($210.2 million) in 2015, and its sequel, Fallen Kingdom, grossing 1.7 billion yuan.
"I think it's successful in China because there's a real history of dinosaurs in China and (there were) major dinosaur discoveries throughout China's natural history. So, just like everyone around the world, I think we are fascinated with the prehistoric creatures because we know they are real," he says.
Over decades, the sci-fi epic's top draw, the dinosaur, which lived millions of years ago, has been brought to the screens by digital technology.
Stephen Brusatte, a professor of paleontology and evolution at the University of Edinburgh and who's also an expert consultant for the film, says in an introducing document provided by Universal Pictures that the franchise has "showed dinosaurs in a way they had never been shown before". It led to more public curiosity about dinosaurs and to many more young people going into paleontology, he says.
"It led to more money going into the field, it led to more universities putting on dinosaur courses, it caused museums to put on dinosaur exhibits, and we're still reaping the benefits of that," says Brusatte.
In the new movie, a total of 27 individual dinosaurs are shown, with 10 not seen in any of the previous Jurassic films. The stunning creatures include a Pyroraptor, whose name means "fire thief", a gorgeous and terrifying fire-red feathered dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period, and four Atrociraptors ("savage robber"), a fierce pack of carnivores from the Cretaceous period.
Pratt and Howard－who have been playing the lead roles, respectively as a dinosaur trainer and operations manager, over eight years－have accumulated tips to deal with bad-tempered dinosaurs.
"Always keep a roasted chicken in your pocket. So, that way if a dinosaur attacks you, you can entice it with the delicious roasted chicken. As it turns its head, run in the opposite direction," Pratt says, jokingly.
The upcoming Jurassic World Dominion features 27 individual dinosaurs, with 10 not seen in any of the previous Jurassic films. The Hollywood sci-fi sequel will help boost the recovery of the domestic cinema market. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Echoing his words, Howard gives several more detailed suggestions, ranging from carrying chili pepper to get rid of a Pteranodon to avoiding wearing uncomfortable shoes, with the latter seemingly in response to her character's controversial escape in high heels in the first movie.
The last Jurassic World movie, released in 2018, depicts two twists that arouse thoughts, with one being if humans should let dinosaurs be "extinguished" in a massive volcanic eruption and the other being that a young girl is revealed to be a "clone".
Speaking about the legacy, co-created by Spielberg and American writer Michael Crichton, Pratt says that the franchise has reshaped his understanding of the human's place in the world, reminding him to show respect to animals.
"What you learn when you watch a Jurassic movie is that you'd better have respect for nature. I think that's an important reminder for us all to remember that the relationship between humans and nature and animals is a symbiotic one, which is about give and take," adds Howard.
With the new movie also uniting two generations of cast members in the old and new trilogies, the new movie reprises American actor Goldblum as Ian Malcolm, a fictional mathematician.
Goldblum reveals his obsession with dinosaurs, exemplified by reading Danny and the Dinosaur storybooks to his two children and his regular visits to see dinosaur skeletons at the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh when he was young.
"The charm of dinosaurs is mysterious.... They (the dinosaurs) were so successful as a species, and they were around much longer than we've been around," says Goldblum, adding that the gigantic creatures have made humans realize we should be humble despite now occupying the apex slot of nature's order.
Contact the writer at xufan@chinadaily.com.cn
