Director Juan Antonio ‘J.A.’ Bayona of “Jurassic World 2” has said in a recent interview with a Spanish magazine that the budget of the film is set at $260 million, which would make it nearly twice as much as the budget of “Jurassic World” shown in June of last year. The second movie is set to hit cinemas on June 22, 2018.
The director said in the interview that the sequel to “Jurassic World” does not have an official title thus far but the budget is already set. He said that the sequel would be a massive increase from the first movie but he did not specify any reason for the large increase in the film’s budget, reports Yahoo! Movies.
Assuming that its $260 million budget is indeed on cue, “Jurassic World 2” would land on the list of the top six most expensive films of all time.
The list includes “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” with its humungous $378.5 million at No. 1, followed by “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” and tied for fifth place are “John Carter” and “Tangled.”
But if the rumors are true, the list could have a new topnotcher next year when “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man Tell No Tales” is shown to theaters, whose budget is reportedly hovering at $500 million already.
Budget not yet set
However, in an interview with a spokesperson for Universal Pictures, which is producing the movie, he said that the budget for “Jurassic World 2” has not been set.
According to the Universal Pictures representative, the development of the sequel to “Jurassic World” has not even reached a point where a budget can be finalized.
This means that the budget could actually be over $260 million as revealed by J.A. Bayona or significantly less, reports the Telegraph of UK.
The $150 million budget of “Jurassic World” was well worth it as the movie went on to become the fourth highest-grossing film of all-time with its $1.67 billion earnings at the box-office.
Some critics believe that it is unlikely that a budget of $260 million will be the case for “Jurassic World 2” since that would mean an out-of-this-world set-up and far numerous CGIs that were used in the first film.
No public theme park definitely
There is no detail with regards to the plot for “Jurassic World 2” but if what transpired during the first movie after the Indominus rex went berserk is to be the basis, an open-to-the-public theme park storyline seems out of the question already.
But “Jurassic World” director Colin Trevorrow did say that the second of the planned “Jurassic World” trilogy may focus on the spread of the dinosaur-creation technology. The notion seems plausible since Dr. Henry Wu, played by B.D. Wong, was able to escape Isla Nublar in the first movie, bringing along with him several dinosaur embryos, one of which was used to create the genetically-engineered Indominus rex.
What seems consistent with the rumors is that Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard shall be reprising their respective roles of dinosaur whisperer Owen Grady and park manager Claire Dearing, respectively.
But since there would be no theme park to be managed in the sequel, it is likely that Bryce Dallas Howard’s character would lose the high heels which have been drawing criticisms and hilarious memes on social media since last year.
There are also reports saying that veteran actor Jeff Goldblum is also being considered for “Jurassic World 2” although it is still not clear if it would be a regular role or just a cameo appearance.
Jeff Goldblum is part of the first and second “Jurassic Park” movies and it would certainly help “Jurassic World 2” bring in the classic fans of the franchise if the actor is taken in. And given the movie’s rumored budget of $260 million, many critics are saying that Jeff Goldblum’s character can perhaps afford a shirt or at least a nice pair of shoes in “Jurassic World 2” assuming his participation is greenlit.