Jurassic World: Dominion: The Prologue

The Prologue - Jurassic World: Dominion is five-minute prologue to the 2022 film Jurassic World: Dominion that was released in 2021, initially as an IMAX-exclusive preview and later as an online short film. It is the second live-action short film in the Jurassic Park franchise, following Battle at Big Rock (2019). The prologue includes a prehistoric segment set during the Cretaceous, depicting various dinosaurs in their natural habitats. The sequence was shot on the island of Socotra, part of Yemen.

The footage debuted in June 2021, as a promotional preview attached to IMAX showings of F9. Director Colin Trevorrow had shot the footage to potentially serve as the first five minutes of Jurassic World: Dominion, before deciding to cut it from the final film. The footage was released online on November 23, 2021, to promote the main film ahead of its scheduled release on June 10, 2022.

Although not being included in the theatrical release, the Prologue was re-instated in the Blu-Ray and 4K releases of Jurassic World: Dominion as "The Extended Cut".^[1]^[2]^[3]

Plot[]

The prologue features a prehistoric segment that takes place 65 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous. It introduces several new creatures to the Jurassic Park film series, and depicts them in their natural habitats: Dreadnoughtus trudging through and around a lake as insects buzzed around them, Quetzalcoatlus and Pteranodon scavenging on corpses and diving into an entrenched river, Ankylosaurus drinking from a watering hole, Oviraptor stealing eggs in a cave, Nasutoceratops wading across a river, and Moros intrepidus and Giganotosaurus in a symbiotic relationship.

The prehistoric segment ends in a showdown between the Giganotosaurus and a partly feathered T. rex. A nearby Iguanodon and some Cretaceous birds flee the area while the two carnivores battle, with the Giganotosaurus killing the T. rex. A mosquito sucks the blood of the T. rex, setting up the franchise's premise, in which ancient DNA is recovered from amber-preserved mosquitoes to engineer dinosaurs.

The prologue skips to northern California during the present day, in which Rexy cloned from the earlier one is pursued by rangers in a helicopter belonging to the US Fish & Wildlife Service. The T. rex, having escaped at the end of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, wreaks havoc at a drive-in theater while evading the helicopter. A ranger attempts to tranquilize the Tyrannosaur, but it escapes into nearby woods. The IMAX preview included additional scenes at its ending, set in the present day. These included a Gallimimus running through a neighborhood, and a Mosasaurus attacking a crab-fishing boat. Another scene consisted of an alternate angle from the 2019 short film Battle at Big Rock, showing a campervan being flipped over by an Allosaurus.

List of Prehistoric Creatures in the film[]

See: Category:Jurassic World: Dominion: The Prologue animals

Trivia[]

Praised for its depictions of dinosaurs with naturalistic behaviors, the short film was noted as being somewhat inaccurate for including dinosaur species from varying time periods & continents living in the same ecosystem.
According to director Colin Trevorrow, the Prologue's inclusion in the Extended Cut of Jurassic World: Dominion is the "true" cut of the film, not the theatrical release.^[4]

References[]

Navigation[]

[forbes-1] "Director Colin Trevorrow On Why ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ Isn’t Just Dinosaurs Fighting In The Streets Of New York" (June 7, 2022)

[thewrap-2] "Colin Trevorrow Explains How He Crafted ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ as Ellie Sattler’s Story" (June 8, 2022)

[3] ttps://twitter.com/colintrevorrow/status/1533874980651356160

[realmovie-4] "Jurassic World Dominion Extended Cut Is The Real Movie, Director Says" (September 30, 2022)

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