Next year’s Jurassic World: Dominion is going to feel like homecoming week for the Jurassic Park franchise, as a lot of familiar faces from the previous five movies will be taken part in the next dinosaur-packed cinematic romp. That said, we may have to scratch at least one individual from the guest list, as New Girl’s Jake Johnson isn’t so sure he’ll get to participate in the threequel after all.
It was reported back in February that Jake Johnson was set to reprise Lowery Crothers, who previously appeared as a control room employee in Jurassic World’s eponymous park, in Jurassic World: Dominion. However, while talking about his new animated Netflix series Hoops in a recent interview, Johnson mentioned that the current health crisis has thrown a wrench in the Jurassic World 3 works. The actor explained:
I was getting ready to go out and then this pandemic hit and so everything got pushed and the schedule got rearranged, and now we’re trying to figure it out because obviously I’m in Stumptown and we’re going into Season 2 of that. So we’re figuring out the scheduling and how and if we can make it work. But Colin Trevorrow, the director, is a good friend, we’re old friends and we’ve been talking a lot and we’re trying to figure out how to do it.
Jurassic World: Dominion began principal photography in late February, but the cast and crew had to press pause just a few weeks later due to the spreading COVID-19 pandemic, a fate that befell many film productions. Dominion finally started rolling cameras again in early July and numerous have been taken to ensure there’s a safe and healthy work environment, including running tens of thousands of COVID tests and setting up hand sanitizer stations.
If Jurassic World: Dominion production had unfolded as planned, then there wouldn’t have been any issue with Jake Johnson returning to play Lowery Crothers. However, the delay now threatens to cause scheduling conflicts with his ABC series Stumptown, where he plays Grey McDonnell and stars alongside Cobie Smulders. Still, maybe there’s a chance that Johnson and Colin Trevorrow can work around this issue, with Johnson noting that because Dominion is serving as a “big finale” and so many people are coming back for this movie, “there would be something amiss if Lowery didn’t at least make an appearance.”
Later in his interview with Collider, Jake Johnson also talked he’d been giving some thought on how radically different Lowery Crothers looks should he indeed appear in Jurassic World: Dominion. As Johnson put it:
At one point I pitched that he has like a huge pony tail now and he’s got like an army jacket and he’s kind of going through some PTSD of what he lived through. I wanted the 70s glasses and he’s always smoking a cigarette, but luckily Colin said no so we’ll see what happens (laughs). I was like, ‘Man I think he should be tatted up from the ankles to the ears, he saw a dinosaur attack!’
Even if Jake Johnson doesn’t make it back for Jurassic World: Dominion, at least one person we haven’t seen since Jurassic World will be present, as Omar Sy is reprising Barry Sembène. Dominion’s other returning faces, besides Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard of course reprising Owen Grady and Claire Dearing, respectively, include the original trio of Sam Neill’s Alan Grant, Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm and Laura Dern’s Ellie Sattler, as well as B.D Wong’s Dr. Henry Wu, Justice Smith’s Franklin Webb, Daniella Pineda’s Zia Rodriguez and Isabella Sermon’s Maisie Lockwood. The new actors joining the mix include Dichen Lachman, Scott Haze, Mamodou Athie, DeWanda Wise and Campbell Scott, the latter of whom is taking over the role of Lewis Dodgson.
Jurassic World: Dominion rampages into theaters on June 11, 2021, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates, including if the threequel is delayed. Find out what movies are slated to arrive later this year in our 2020 release schedule.
