Jurassic World sequel title revealed: What does 'Fallen Kingdom' mean?

'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' will release on June 22, 2018. It is filming in Hawaii at the moment.

Jurassic World 2
Official logo of 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.' twitter.com/JurassicWorld

On June 22, the official title of the fifth 'Jurassic Park' movie directed by J.A. Bayona was revealed to be 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.' It's an unexpected title and fans have either embraced it or not. It is the highly anticipated sequel to Colin Trevorrow's 'Jurassic World' but the title has a mystery to it; especially regarding what 'Fallen Kingdom' actually means.

Colin Trevorrow has, in many interviews, highlighted how the fifth Jurassic Park movie would deal with Man's exploitation and abuse of nature for personal profits. As noted by Time in October, last year, Trevorrow had said, "The dinosaurs will be a parable of the treatment animals receive today: the abuse, medical experimentation, pets, having wild animals in zoos like prisons, the use the military has made of them, animals as weapons."

Seeing as Trevorrow wrote the script of the fifth entry, it seems obvious that 'Fallen Kingdom' is among many things referring to the fallen state of Man in today's world. It is human beings who exploit and abuse animals and nature for their own selfish reasons; whether it be the cruel meat industry, the textile industry, the leather industry, the pet industry, circuses or zoos.

The idea of a 'Fallen Kingdom' was a seed planted right there in Steven Spielberg's first 'Jurassic Park' film. Jeff Goldblum's Dr. Ian Malcolm said, "Gee, the lack of humility before nature that's being displayed here, um... staggers me," on hearing Hammond and his lawyer discuss ticket rates for Jurassic Park. He shortly added that scientific discovery is "a violent, penetrative act that scars what it explores."

Jurassic Park failed as Malcolm had predicted but a few years later InGen Technologies, the company which funded the creation of Jurassic Park, tried bringing the dinosaurs to mainland America, as zoo attractions and they failed again; the operation cost numerous lives. Despite all this, a new theme park re-christened 'Jurassic World' on the same island from the first film, began attracting large number of tourists for many years, until yet another calamity led to the unnecessary deaths of both people and many dinosaurs.

'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' then is about both the literal "fallen" theme park; the ruins of it and the inconsiderate actions of humans who 'were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.'

The poster released with the new title is also interesting in its own way. It's the same ashen gray logo that we saw with 2015's smash-hit 'Jurassic World' but the logo is now cracked, like the poster of 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park,' representing among many things, the fall and corruption of Man itself. There are also red glowing sparks in the background which suggests that the movie will feature a volcano, as seen in a few behind-the-scenes pictures posted online.

The story, as per unconfirmed reports, will be about Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard's characters heading down to Isla Nublar to rescue the dinosaurs before an erupting volcano in the island consumes everything. The leaked photos of trucks with dinosaurs inside their cages suggest the rumours might be right.

Before the title reveal, Bayona also teased an image of what appeared to be the same iconic red and green Ford Explorer from 'Jurassic Park' that the T-Rex dubbed "Rexy" had pushed down a moat. Look at the tweet below. This probably means that the runined car which ran on tracks, might make an appearance in this movie.

The most exciting news for long-time fans is of course the return of Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm. Also, the fifth movie's tagline itself is a direct quote of Malcolm from the first film, "Life finds a way."

'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' will release on June 22, 2018. It is filming in Hawaii at the moment.

This article was first published on June 23, 2017