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Credit: Universal PicturesWhen Jon Favreau (Iron Man, The Lion King, The Jungle Book) and Dave Filoni (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels) released their first joint installment in the Star Wars universe — live-action series The Mandalorian — on November 12, 2019, the landscape of the galaxy far, far away changed forever.
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From the moment bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and 50-year-old infant foundling, Grogu — then known only as “Baby Yoda” or “The Child” — first appeared onscreen when Disney+ launched, Star Wars fans felt that Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni were hearkening back to a bygone era when George Lucas still had full creative control of his space opera saga.
After the divisive nature of Disney’s sequel trilogy — which was announced soon after The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm, Ltd. from Lucas in 2012 — The Mandalorian was a refreshing change. Instead of ripping Star Wars fans apart, it brought them together.
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Now, Favreau is trying his hand at an entirely new “world” — the prehistoric Earth. The Marvel alum is releasing a detailed “Jurassic Park“-like docuseries, Prehistoric Planet, alongside co-executive producer Mike Gunton.
One recent article about the Apple TV+ dinosaur project notes:
Described as a one-of-a-kind immersive experience, Prehistoric Planet combines award-winning wildlife filmmaking, the latest paleontology learnings, and state-of-the-art technology to unveil the breathtaking habitats and inhabitants of ancient Earth. The series explores little-known and surprising facts about dinosaur life, from the parenting techniques of Tyrannosaurus rex to the mysterious depths of the oceans and the deadly dangers in the sky.
You can view the trailer for Prehistoric Planet below:
Related: Lucas & Spielberg Created a Dinosaur Universe Long Before ‘Jurassic Park’
The five-part series is set to release one episode daily from May 23 through May 27, 2022. Sir David Attenborough narrates while accompanied by a Hans Zimmer score.
You can learn more about Prehistoric Planet on its official website. Per the article mentioned previously, the series promises “real-life footage taken from icy mountains, dense forests, arid deserts, freshwater regions, and expansive coastlines all over the world to bring audiences to uncharted territory, up close with new species of dinosaurs.”
More on Jurassic Park and Jurassic World
The timing of Prehistoric Planet’s debut is likely not a coincidence. The highly-anticipated third installment in the Jurassic World trilogy — Jurassic World: Dominion — is set to hit theaters on June 10, 2022.
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Steven Spielberg, of course, launched the now-legendary Jurassic film franchise with Jurassic Park (1993). Characters like Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), Dr. John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), and the precocious Tim (Joseph Mazzello) and Lex (Ariana Richards) transported moviegoers to Isla Nublar where dinosaurs reigned supreme.
The movie was unlike anything that had been done before, with more realistic T-Rex and Velociraptor renditions than dinosaur buffs had ever seen, and that JELL-O scene still haunts you, right?
The original Jurassic Park trilogy, which also included The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) and Jurassic Park III (2001), proved to be so popular that Universal Pictures revived the franchise in 2015 with Jurassic World.
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As noted, the successful film launched its own trilogy, with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and the aforementioned Dominion. At the end of Fallen Kingdom, dinosaurs are unleashed on society — imagine seeing a Brontosaurus sauntering beside the freeway on your daily Starbucks run — so Dominion is sure to introduce us to a wildly different world than we’ve ever seen in the Jurassic movies before.
Are you looking forward to Jon Favreau’s own “Jurassic Park” project when Prehistoric Planet debuts?