‘Jurassic World’ Sequel Gets 2018 Release Date; Original Stars Returning 

series, has proven that there’s still plenty of life in the franchise. The movie achieved the highest global box office opening to date, and has since earned $1 billion worldwide in record time. It’s latest achievement was dethroning

and taking its place as the third highest-grossing film of all time.

series (soft) reboot is an undeniable success and has been a major contributor to Universal’s record-breaking year. With such incredible numbers, sequels are a foregone conclusion. It was not a matter of if, but when we would be returning to the franchise. Now, it has been confirmed exactly when we’ll be seeing more dinosaur destruction on the big screen.

Universal Pictures has officially set the release date for the next

film. The currently untitled movie will premiere on June 22nd, 2018, with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard returning as its stars.

co-writer/director Colin Trevorrow will pen the script with his frequent collaborator Derek Connolly, though Trevorrow is not expected to return to the director’s chair (perhaps because he’ll be directing a

franchise producers Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall are also expected to return for the

sequel, with Trevorrow also serving as an executive producer on the project. Overall, the crew behind the upcoming film is matching pretty closely to those who worked on

. The biggest question now is who Universal will tap to direct the sequel.

Colin Trevorrow, Chris Pratt, and Bryce Dallas Howard filming ‘Jurassic World’

Trevorrow has made it clear that he doesn’t plan to return to the director’s chair on the

followup, stating that having a different filmmaker onboard will allow the sequel to have its own distinct “flavor” (a la installments in the

series). Changing the director is a way to keep the franchise feeling fresh, after four

Regardless of who ends up sitting in the director’s chair, they’re going to be under immense pressure to repeat

‘s success. One area that could be improved upon, filmmaking-wise, is the human element. 

tried to include a meaningful, human-centric story, but many would agree: it fell short, in that regard. Perhaps Pratt and Howard will be able to expand on their

characters and introduce a more meaningful, well-realized relationship between the two in the sequel.

sequel opens in U.S. theaters on June 22, 2018.

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