Credit: Universal PicturesA “new Jurassic era” really is about to begin, because, unfortunately, you can say goodbye to any of your favorite actors from Jurassic Park (1993).
With several upcoming Jurassic Park/Jurassic World sequels in development, there has never been a better time to be a fan of the long-running franchise that started back in 1993 with Steven Spielberg’s landmark cinematic blockbuster film.
More notably, a seventh film, rumored to be titled Jurassic World: Rebirth (2024), is in the works. Its subtitle, however, feels derivative, and it might leave fans feeling tired of the Jurassic World banner, which has propped the franchise up since the 2015 blockbuster of the same name.
The film will star Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Rupert Friend, Luna Blaise, David Iacono, Audrina Miranda, and Mahershala Ali, in what has been described as “a completely fresh take launching a new Jurassic era”.
Related: Confirmed: ‘Jurassic Park’ Sequel Will Be a More Faithful Adaptation of 1990 Novel
While there’s still no telling how the new movie fits in with the other six — presumably, it will follow on from the latest sequel, Jurassic World Dominion (2022), especially if we’re going by the new rumored title — clearly, the Jurassic World banner isn’t going anywhere.
Fortunately, one of the other Jurassic sequels currently in the works will reunite fans with the “Park” era, taking them all the way back to that unforgettable incident in 1993. Well, the next day, at least. And it seems to have even bigger opportunities than the upcoming film.
While the first-person action-adventure and semi-open-world video game “Jurassic Park: Survival” (TBA) will, of course, be arriving on the smaller screen, fans are just as excited for the new gaming title as they are for the seventh installment in the film series.
“Survival” will pit players against deadly prehistoric predators 24 hours after the events of the 1993 film as they assume control InGen scientist Dr. Maya Joshi, who’s been left to fend for herself on Isla Nublar after being “unable to evacuate” with everyone else (not such a clever girl, then).
Per the official website, Joshi must to use “stealth,” “ingenuity,” and “all the resources” at her disposal to survive dinosaurs and “other surprising threats”. Exploring Nublar will see players revisit iconic locations from the film and also discover never-before-seen areas of the park.
Watch the trailer for “Jurassic Park: Survival” below, per Jurassic World YouTube:
But while we know the basic premise for the game — a scientist must survive InGen’s genetically engineered dinosaurs while trapped on a stormy Isla Nublar and presumably have to find a way to get out alive — we don’t know any specific plot details.
Recently, in an “internal Q&A” conducted with Universal Products & Experiences’ executive producer John Melchior and Saber Interactive creative director Oliver Hollis-Leick shared exclusively with IGN, some new information about the game was revealed, including new locations and screenshots, and teases relating to “special dinosaurs” and “new characters”.
Of course, the latter suggests that there will be more humans in addition to Dr. Maya Joshi on Isla Nublar. While it’s perfectly reasonable to assume that some of those humans will be nothing more than dinosaur cannon fodder (other InGen scientists and possibly Biosyn villains), we may also see the return of some of the original characters from the 1993 film.
While the game takes place 24 hours after the events of Jurassic Park — so the next day — it’s not impossible for the likes of Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), Lex Murphy (Ariana Richards), and Tim Murphy (Joe Mazzello) will make an appearance in some shape or form.
Related: ‘Jurassic Park’ Official Sequel: Everything We Know
If they do show up, the chances are it will be in the form of a “recap” at the start of the game (which would be awesome) to catch players up on the events that precede Joshi’s journey. After all, Grant, Sattler, Malcolm, Hammond, Lex, and Tim have long escaped Nublar by the time the game begins.
Or, perhaps, much like the incredibly popular first-person survival horror video game “Alien: Isolation” (2014), with which “Jurassic Park: Survival” is already being compared, we may, further down the line following the game’s release sometime next year, get a “bonus” mission that will involve playing one of the original characters during the events of the 1993 film.
Like “Jurassic Park: Survival”, “Alien: Isolation” is a sequel to Alien (1977), however, it features a bonus mission in which you can play as Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley aboard the Nostromo where she must survive the Xenomorph, as seen in 1977 film.
Either way, we won’t be seeing the actors themselves from Jurassic Park. Not only are none of them expected to return in Jurassic World 4, the odds of seeing a major star reprise their role in a video game are unlikely. As such, we’d see new actors take on these iconic roles.
Related: ‘Jurassic World 4’ Everything We Know: Plot, Cast, Release Date, Trailer, and News
But, should the likes of Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, and Ian Malcolm show up in “Survival”, we’re confident that the developers (Saber Interactive) will at least capture their respective actors’ likeness to help further immerse the player deep into the world of Jurassic Park.
And then there’s the case of characters who are killed in the film.
While you might scoff at the suggestion that we may see Robert Muldoon (Bob Peck), Ray Arnold (Samuel L Jackson), Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero), and Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) in the game, again, we may get flashbacks or some kind of recap sequence.
Or maybe one of them actually survived (we’d put our money on Ray Arnold, seeing as we don’t see him get killed by the raptors — only his severed arm).
At the very least, with a “fully realized Isla Nublar” is on offer, we expect to see their remains in the jungle (as morbid as that sounds), which wouldn’t be out of the question given the game’s “horror” and “strong violence”.
As for the dinosaurs, we know that at least one of the Velociraptors from the film ended up surviving. We also expect to find out what happened to dinosaurs like the sick Triceratops.
“Jurassic Park: Survival” will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. There’s no release date for the game, but it’s expected to arrive sometime in 2025.
Jurassic World 4 will be released in theaters on July 2, 2025.
Would you like to see any of the original Jurassic Park characters make an appearance in “Jurassic Park: Survival”? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!