Production on ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ resumed in July in London after a shutdown caused by COVID-19. Part of the movie was already filmed in Canada prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Universal Pictures is reportedly spending an additional $5 million on safety precautions on the set. While filming is already underway, some of the cast are just now returning to work, and that includes Sam Neill who starred in ‘Jurassic Park’ (1993) and ‘Jurassic Park III’ (2001).
Neill reprises the role of Dr. Alan Grant and to help him get back into character, he’ll be joined by an old friend– his trusty hat. Neill celebrated returning to work with this post on Twitter:
Hold onto your hats- gettin’ my old one back on this week , and facing off dinosaurs once again. Best yet .Excited and terrified- these things will kill ya. With @LauraDern @BryceDHoward @prattprattpratt #JeffGoldblum @colintrevorrow I’m obviously a little more …grizzled now.. pic.twitter.com/zYtG5uadB2
— Sam Neill (@TwoPaddocks) August 2, 2020
Also returning from the original ‘Jurassic Park’ franchise are Laura Dern as Dr. Ellie Sattler, Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm, and D.B. Wong as Dr. Henry Wu. Goldblum had a small role in the last movie, ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’, but neither Neill nor Dern has appeared in the new series. Another character from ‘Jurassic Park’ will also be back– Lewis Dodgson, who will be played by a new actor, Campbell Scott. (The role was originally played by Cameron Thor.) It is also believed that Joseph Mazzello and Ariana Richards will return in the roles of Tim and Lex Hammond, but while Mazzello has teased his return on Twitter, their involvement hasn’t been confirmed.
Colin Trevorrow is directing ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ and returning from the last movie are Bryce Dallas Howard as Claire Dearing, Chris Pratt as Owen Grady, Jake Johnson as Lowery Cruthers, Daniella Pineda as Zia Rodriguez, Isabella Sermon as Maisie Lockwood, Justice Smith as Franklin Webb, and Omar Sy as Barry Sembene. ‘Dominion’ will also feature newcomers Mamoudou Athie, Scott Haze, Dichen Lachman, and DeWanda Wise.
‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ is scheduled to open on June 11, 2021, but that is tentative. But with production under way, it could still make that date.