Production on Jurassic World 2 is expected to kick off in February when J.A. Bayona’s monstrous sequel will be setting up shop across London and various locations on Hawaii. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are among the returning, with early, as-yet-unconfirmed story nuggets pointing to man-made dinos that would make even the Indominus Rex blush. One fan-favorite that won’t be involved, however, is Alan Grant, after Sam Neill confirmed over the weekend that his decorated paleontologist has essentially been written out of the franchise.
Word comes hand-in-hand with confirmation that Neill has enlisted for 2017 sequel Thor: Ragnarok. A trip to the Nine Realms is in the cards then, but the actor told Shortlist (via ScreenRant) that because Alan Grant has essentially fallen off the radar – happily retired from paleontology and enjoying a quiet, dino-free life in Ohio – there’s no chance he’ll be cropping up in Jurassic World 2.
“I think the problem is that no one knows where Alan Grant is anymore,” Neill said, filling in his own backstory. “He’s retired from paleontology. He’s sick to death of dinosaurs and running. He’s not quite as fleet of foot as he was, and he’s now retired to Dayton, Ohio, and has a very successful accountancy business. I think that’s what’s happened to Alan. Either that or he’s dead. How do you recover from all of that stuff? I don’t think therapists are trained to deal with post-dino stuff. No. I don’t think you get over it. Accountancy would be one way.”
Appearing across both Jurassic Park and its 2001 threequel, when pressed about the possibility of donning the hat and neck scarf once more, Neill joked: “The call hasn’t come. And no one can find Grant. He’s disappeared. Someone found his hat. His hat was floating on the Hudson river, but that was the last ever heard of him.”
Alas, it seems Universal is yet to pick up the phone and present Sam Neill with a possible Jurassic World 2 cameo. That’s a bit of a bummer, particularly when you consider how Colin Trevorrow’s box office behemoth paid homage to the franchise’s cherished legacy. It’s quickly developing into its own beast, though, with a bona fide trilogy already mapped out.
Jurassic World 2 has been earmarked for launch on June 22, 2018 – and no, the production budget is not $260 million.
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