'Jurassic' Series Set Before 'Dominion' Could Change the Franchise in a Major Way

Many fans would argue that the Jurassic films have gotten away from themselves over the decades. The first film in the series, Jurassic Park (1993), is a tension-filled thriller with moments of genuine horror, but the Jurassic World films are mostly action-oriented.

Split down the middle, the two Jurassic trilogies each feel like they belong to a different genre, with plenty of overlap. Either way, it will be interesting to see whether a future Jurassic Park/Jurassic World installment will experiment with other genres entirely.

Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) in Malta on his motorbike in Jurassic World Dominion — Credit: Universal Studios

That said, many fans don’t realize that the franchise has already touched upon other genres. There’s the Netflix animated series Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous (2020 — 2022), which is aimed primarily at younger audiences, and then there’s the live-action web series.

The series in question was introduced via the “fake” website Dino Tracker, which was set up to promote Jurassic World Dominion (2022) before and during its theatrical release. The website allows users to keep tabs on dinosaur populations around the world in “real time.”

Chris Pratt with the Parasaur in Jurassic World Dominion — Credit: Universal Studios

The found-footage-style series of short films collectively titled “Dinotracker Sightings in Our World” sees dinosaurs in the wild all around the world after they escaped from Lockwood Manor, as seen at the end of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018).

Each found-footage short shows unlucky humans encountering dinosaurs in everyday settings. Some of the footage is lifted directly from the short film Battle at Big Rock (2019), and some of it you’ll recognize from Jurassic World Dominion‘s opening montage.

Check them out below:

This series may only be a collection of shorts, but it could set the stage for the next film in the franchise, which is yet to be confirmed by Universal Pictures, despite Jurassic World Dominion grossing over $1 billion worldwide just last year.

But while Dominion took a massive bite out of the global box office, many fans weren’t happy that it focused on the corrupt bioengineering company, Biosyn, as opposed to dinosaurs living among humans, which was a huge part of the film’s marketing.

Isabella Sermon as Maisie Lockwood, hearing something in the woods in Jurassic World Dominion — Credit: Universal Studios

Similarly to Battle at Big Rock, this series at least spends all of its time delivering what Dominion failed to do. Is it possible Universal Pictures deliberately left fans hungry for another Jurassic World installment by mis-marketing Dominion?

Well, whatever the answer to that question may be, right now we’re more interested in seeing a future Jurassic installment take place within the found-footage genre. It’s certainly food for thought, as it works pretty well here.

Will there be more Jurassic World movies after Dominion?

Before the release of Jurassic World Dominion, producer Frank Marshall confirmed that there will be more from the Jurassic franchise, while Dominion director Colin Trevorrow suggested that the 2022 film lays the groundwork for future sequels.

There are many directions a future Jurassic installment can take, whether it’s another sequel, a prequel, or a live-action television series. Looking at franchises like Star Wars and Marvel, Jurassic World could easily go down the television series route.

After all, the found-footage series isn’t the first time Universal has seemingly tested the waters of a potential television series. Battle at Big Rock was the first Internet-exclusive Jurassic feature, and there was the Dominion prologue, which was released onto YouTube before the film’s release.

Triceratops caught in headlights in Jurassic World Dominion's Dino Tracker short films — Credit: Universal Studios

As per the Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment website, here’s the official synopsis for the film:

From Jurassic World architect and director Colin Trevorrow, Dominion takes place four years after Isla Nublar has been destroyed. Dinosaurs now live — and hunt –alongside humans all over the world. This fragile balance will reshape the future and determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history’s most fearsome creatures.

Character Poster for Jurassic World Dominion — Credit: Universal Studios

Jurassic World Dominion is directed by Colin Trevorrow and stars Bryce Dallas Howard (Claire Dearing), Chris Pratt (Owen Grady), Mamoudou Athie (Ramsay Cole), Isabella Sermon (Maisie Lockwood), Omar Sy (Barry Sembène), BD Wong (Henry Wu), Campbell Scott (Lewis Dodgson), DeWanda Wise (Kayla Watts), Jeff Goldblum (Dr. Ian Malcolm), Sam Neill (Dr. Alan Grant), and Laura Dern (Dr. Ellie Sattler).

Do you think a found-footage Jurassic World film could work? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!