Jurassic World: Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, and Laura Dern will NOT return

"Life won't find a way..."

Extinct... Doctors Malcolm, Satler, and Grant with park impresario John Hammond (Credit: Universal)

'Jurassic Park' fans of the world may be disappointed to discover that Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, and Laura Dern will not be returning for the fourth film in the franchise, ‘Jurassic World’.

Director Colin Trevorrow dropped the bombshell in an interview with IGN.

"I know a lot of fans want to see the original characters back. They’re iconic. But I respect those actors too much to shoehorn them into this story for my own sentimental reasons,” explained the film-maker.

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"Jurassic Park isn’t about the bad luck of three people who keep getting thrown into the same situation. The only reason they’d go back to that island is if the screenwriters contrived a reason for them to go.”

One actor who was confirmed to be returning was BD Wong, who had a minor role in the 1993 original as Dr. Henry Wu.

"He had a much larger role in the original novel, he was the engineer of this breakthrough in de-extinction. He spent two decades living in Hammond’s shadow, underappreciated. We think there’s more to his story.”


Dr. Wu, you may remember, was the scientist who explained why the island’s dinosaurs couldn’t reproduce during the visitor center tour, to which Goldblum's character Ian Malcolm famously replies "I'm simply saying that life, uh... finds a way."

Trevorrow also revealed that it was Steven Spielberg who delayed the film, pushing it from a 2014 release date to June 2015, and he confirmed that Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard would be the two main leads.

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Pratt’s character is described as "a classic hero in a very modern context. He’s the guy who will get you through the jungle alive – but like Malcolm, Grant and Sattler, he’s an expert in a scientific field that’s connected to our story.”

"The character allows us to explore some new ideas about our relationship with these animals, without losing the humor and sense of adventure."

Dallas Howard’s character on the flip side "starts off very corporate, very controlled. Until the running and screaming starts.”

Sounds like the making of an epic adventure.

‘Jurassic World’ is in UK cinemas on 12 June, 2015.