Jurassic World: Dominion is a significant entry in the fan-favorite film series for a few reasons. It’ll bring the Jurassic Park franchise to an even six films, and it’ll bring the Jurassic World trilogy to an explosive end. The film will also mark the returns of franchise veterans Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, who are all reprising their famous roles. The trio probably expected things to be different when they returned after so many years but probably didn’t predict that production would be affected by a pandemic. Despite the changes brought on about by it, Neill still compares the experience to “summer camp” and considers doing the project a privilege.
Jurassic World: Dominion was the first major film to return to production in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the set had to be tailored to suit the circumstances. Despite the alterations, Sam Neill humorously refers to it as a mix of “rehab,” “summer camp” and “Easter break,” and he actually believes he and his colleagues benefited from the experience:
It was somewhere between rehab, summer camp and Easter break. We were compulsorily in each other’s company and much richer for it. If we were shooting in L.A., we’d go off to our different caves every night, but we got to know each other so much better… Hopefully, there’ll be thousands of massive cinemas ready for it because it’s a big film for big audiences.
Sam Neill has certainly found the bright spot in the unusual situation he and his collaborators were faced with. And based on social media posts from the actor, he and his castmates did spend plenty of time together. There are actually a number of posts that feature Neill and co-star Jeff Goldblum singing together. So it’s pretty clear the cast was close while working on Jurassic World: Dominion.
One of the unfortunate side effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is that a lot of people have been without jobs as a result. With this, Sam Neill further told Variety that he feels fortunate that he was still able to work last year:
I never felt less than privileged to be in work last year. So many people haven’t had a sniff of a job for over a year and I can imagine how frightfully depressing that is and how much anxiety it must induce.
When faced with circumstances that aren’t exactly ideal, it’s sometimes easy to forget that there are others who are experiencing greater hardship than you. But this definitely doesn’t appear to be the case for Sam Neill. Based on his comments, it sounds like his Jurassic World: Dominion experience is one he’ll treasure for years to come. And I, for one, am looking forward to seeing results of his work on the big screen.
Jurassic World: Dominion is scheduled to open in theaters on June 10, 2022.
