Hold onto your butts. Joe Johnston, director of the profoundly lackluster Jurassic Park III, unveiled the latest incarnation in Jurassic Park IV rumors. As Hans Landa might say, “I love rumors!” According to Empire Online, Johnston, who is currently promoting the upcoming Wolfman, talked to BoxOffice.com about the long-gestating Jurassic Park IV and had this to say: “Well, there is going to be a Jurassic Park IV. And it's going to be unlike anything you've seen. It breaks away from the first three—it's essentially the beginning of the second Jurassic Park trilogy.”
The interview doesn’t necessarily lock Johnston into a total studio confirmation, nor does he give story info, but at the very least the potential for a sequel is still rattling around Hollywood. There is a lengthy timeline of flatlined JPIV rumors, and this latest seems to stem from Johnston’s interview with Ain’t It Cool News from November 2009 when he mentioned a story taking the franchise in a “new direction.” So at the very least it sounds like there could be a script here. But this is nothing new. Spielberg was working on a script back in 2003 which had Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum locked in for a return. In 2004 David Boreanaz and Keira Knightley were rumored as new leads, while 2006 had a script ready to go. Then came Michael Crichton’s death in 2008, which seemed to Kathleen Kennedy a sign it was time to let the series rest in peace.
Whether we go back to the park, the sister island, or the dinosaurs come to the mainland is anyone’s guess. But if done well, don’t we all want to see some raptors again? Or has the “ooh and aah” devolved into running and screaming … away from the theater?
Doesn't that line still give you chills?