Jurassic World: Dominion director Colin Trevorrow has repeatedly assured fans that returning Jurassic Park cast members Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum don't just have cameos in the film, that their roles are of equal importance to those played by returning Jurassic World stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. Goldblum himself has confirmed that the Jurassic Park characters aren't kept away from the dinosaur action, that they do get put into a "life or death situation" together, again. Now Trevorrow has revealed that the returning cast members even had script input.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Trevorrow said that when filming ended for the day, he would continue working with the actors at the hotel they were all staying at.
These people have so many attributes, so many things about themselves that are just like Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler and Claire Dearing. It didn't end at the end of the shoot day. It didn't end on the weekend. We would write dialogue together and find ways to make sure that all of these actors, who are so deeply associated with this specific set of characters that they've played, not just felt their characters were respected but dug into who they are now."
Reiterating that Neill, Dern, and Goldblum have more than cameos, he said,
It is a true ensemble of all of these people, even if they may not be side by side the whole time. There is just something really exhilarating, just from a generational standpoint, to be able to put all of these characters into a situation where they are again having to not just survive together, but make sure that we all don't go extinct just like the dinosaurs."
In addition to the script work he did with the actors, Trevorrow wrote Jurassic World: Dominion with Emily Carmichael, based on an idea he crafted with his Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom co-writer Derek Connolly.
Pratt, Howard, Neill, Dern, and Goldblum are joined in the cast by Mamoudou Athie, DeWanda Wise, Daniella Pineda, Justice Smith, Jake Johnson, Omar Sy, Scott Haze, Campbell Scott, and Dichen Lachman.
A collaboration between Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment, the film was executive produced by Trevorrow and Steven Spielberg, with Frank Marshall producing alongside Pat Crowley. Sara Scott, senior vice president of production at Universal, oversaw the project for the studio.
Jurassic World: Dominion, described as "a celebration of the whole franchise" that finishes the "one long story" that has been told across all six Jurassic films (plus Trevorrow's short film Battle at Big Rock and the Netflix animated series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous), is scheduled to reach theatres on June 10, 2022.