'Jurassic World 3' Is Really 'Jurassic Park 6,' Colin Trevorrow Says

When Colin Trevorrow brought dinosaurs back from extinction (again) with 2015's Jurassic World, it marked a new chapter for the science fiction monster franchise, paying homage to Steven Spielberg's 1993 classic while bringing the series into a new era with new leads played by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.

But last month, we learned that the original Jurassic Park trio, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum, will be returning to run with the reptiles once again. And there's a reason that the three of them will be united onscreen for the first time in 26 years, Trevorrow recently revealed.

In an interview with Empire Magazine, Trevorrow spoke about bringing back the iconic Jurassic Park characters of Dr. Ellie Sattler, Dr. Alan Grant, and Dr. Ian Malcolm, played by Dern, Neill, and Goldblum, respectively. It's more than a piece of stunt casting, Trevorrow said, explaining that the upcoming Jurassic World 3 acts more like a sequel to the overall franchise, calling the project "Jurassic Park VI":

"We'd have had to come up with a reason why Ellie, Malcolm and Grant all went to the theme park on the exact same day it broke down – again. The next film allows the legacy characters to be a part of the story in an organic way. Emily Carmichael and I call it 'Jurassic Park VI', because it is. You start asking the most basic questions: who are these people now? What do they make of the new world they're living in, and how do they feel about being part of its history? Ultimately it will be in collaboration with the actors. They know and love these characters. We'll do it together."

While Jurassic World and 2018's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom have largely remained separate from the first three Jurassic Park movies — apart from premise, a few shared characters and a very brief Goldblum cameo. But Trevorrow says that will soon change with Jurassic World 3, which will combine both series into an overall saga. We don't know in what way Dr. Ellie Satler and Alan Grant will be involved in the story, but it's likely their dinosaur expertise could be used to corral the dinosaurs unleashed upon the world after an auction goes terribly wrong at the end of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Directed by Colin Trevorrow from a script he co-wrote with Emily Carmichael, Jurassic World 3 stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Neil, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Mamoudou Athie.

Jurassic World 3 is slated to open theaters on June 11, 2021