How do you progress from an indie like “Safety Not Guaranteed” to a gigantic blockbuster like “Jurassic World”? You get Steven Spielberg as a champion without even seeking his endorsement. In an interview with the Playlist to be posted soon, “Jurassic World” director Colin Trevorrow said that the last thing that was on his mind was following up his celebrated Sundance indie with a big VFX-heavy blockbuster, but Spielberg came calling.
What did Spielberg see in Trevorrow that he knew he’d be the right person for the job? Trevorrow’s clear-cut storytelling abilities, namely. “[Steven told me,] in [‘Safety Not Guaranteed’], I posed a question, which was: is this man crazy or is he capable of something that is impossible? And he really liked the answer.”
After Trevorrow, Spielberg, and producer Frank Marshall met, all three were committed, but there were some reservations elsewhere. “The studio, I think, was appropriately horrified at first,” Trevorrow laughed.
Much has been made about the fact that Trevorrow won’t be directing any “Jurassic World” sequels (if they happen) which has led to much speculation. But Trevorrow says this was always the plan from day one. “That’s something that Steven and I talked about a long time ago,” he said. “And it’s a decision that we made early on in the process, because Steven was aware of how important it was to me to have a body of work and to exist in different worlds and to make different kinds of films. That’s a privilege that he’s had over the course of his career.”
“I didn’t want to lose that privilege and just become the ‘Jurassic Park‘ guy for an entire decade,” he added. “Also, I poured everything I had into this. I laid it all out and you put a piece of your soul into these movies. I gave this one a lot.”
But Trevorrow said he “will be involved” and right now he and the production team are figuring out if that’s just going to be a producing or writing role. “We built this thing, and I’m not just going to walk away and leave them flailing with it,” he said. “It really is important to me to ground it. Maybe that does mean that I’ll do some writing. We’re not exactly sure what form that’s going to take, and it might just be helping guide it forward creatively, but I really did try to imbue this movie with some ideas that would help us move forward.”
Trevorrow also addressed some of the controversy surrounding Joss Whedon’s dismissive comments regarding a clip from the movie that seemed sexist in the ‘Age Of Ultron’ filmmaker’s estimation. “If anything, [Whedon’s comments] just made me really want him and everyone else to see the scene in context,” Trevorrow explained. ”I’m very proud of [Bryce Dallas Howard’s] character in this movie.” No spoilers, but she’s got a strong character arc which Trevorrow says that scene was “part of the point.”
Trevorrow even went as far to defend Whedon and the recent attacks he received from Twitter about the perceived sexism in his blockbuster. “I was frustrated and almost offended on his behalf in the level of anger and nastiness that was thrown around in the wake of that and in the wake of ‘Avengers.’ I hope people understand how much people like Joss and I care about what we’re doing and how we share in people’s love for these things that is so personal to all of us,” he said.
“Jurassic World” opens nationwide Friday, May 12th. More from this interview soon. Check out a new featurette below.
