Actor Jeff Goldblum, who became a household name thanks to his noteworthy performance in "The Fly" and then "Jurassic Park," is joining director J.A. Bayona's Jurassic World sequel. He played the character of Ian Malcolm in Steven Spielberg's 1993 original.
The Hollywood Reporter (THR) first broke the news of Goldblum's casting in the untitled fifth 'Jurassic Park' movie. The actor was already filming for 'Thor: Ragnarok' in the UK, where the 'Jurassic World' sequel is currently filming as well. Peter Sciretta of Slashfilm also reached out to the film's producer Frank Marshall for comment. Marshall said, "I'm excited to have him back. The world has changed a lot since Ian Malcolm went to Jurassic Park and we need his point of view now more than ever. He told us about chaos theory, he was right."
Jeff Goldblum is famous for his very natural, yet very quirky style of acting. In 'Jurassic Park' Goldblum played Chaos theorist Ian Malcolm, who with the help of his fractal models predicted that John Hammond's dinosaur park was too unstable and would fail. He was right, the dinosaurs eventually got out of their fences, ate people and the park was ruined. Goldblum also reprised his role in the sequel, 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park.'
Spielberg commended Goldblum's talent in an interview conducted for 'Jurassic Park,' where he said: "Jeff Goldblum is an incredibly naturalistic actor. It seems like he's making up the dialogue as he speaks."
Goldblum is having a bit of career resurgence lately, having been a part of some fantastic Wes Anderson films, including 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and the upcoming 'Isle of Dogs.' He is playing a prominent role in 'Thor: Ragnarok' and recently reprised his David Levinson character from 1997 blockbuster 'Independence Day' in 'Independence Day: Resurgence.' He has also starred in 'Law & order: Criminal Intent.'
His role in 'Jurassic Park' is famous for two things: his contagious mocking laugh directed towards Sam Neill's Alan Grant, while they journey towards Jurassic Park and him lying on a table with his shirt open, exposing his sweaty and hairy chest. The latter image has been seducing women and men alike since 1993. What's even more hilarious is that some fan created a gif that went viral, which shows Sam Neill pressing his face on Goldblum's heaving chest and smiling in delight.
Goldblum's catchy yet significant one-liners in 'Jurassic Park' have become part of pop culture. And Malcolm being chased by the T-Rex in the same film while trying to save the kids trapped in the damaged Ford Explorer also remains an iconic Hollywood moment.
Neill's character Alan Grant is also very famous among 'Jurassic Park' fans who want to see him return, possibly in the sixth 'Jurassic Park' film. He was the lead in Joe Johnston's 'Jurassic Park III' as well. Many had lost hope of ever seeing the original leads of Spielberg's 1993 monster-hit until THR's report surprised them. Hopefully, Neill and Laura Dern, who played Paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler, will also reprise their roles in the next 'Jurassic Park' film.
Though Jeff Goldblum has been confirmed for 'Jurassic World 2,' it is not known whether his role will be a major one, or just a glorified cameo. From Frank Marshall's comment however, it seems his role will at least be a significant part of the plot, which involves the mistreatment and abuse of animals by humans for their own selfish gains.
Recently, it leaked that the film will feature a action sequence involving a helicopter during a thunderstorm. Also there will reportedly be a big scene in the film involving a submarine; it was revealed by actor Kevin Layne, who plays a submarine pilot in the film. The interview can be found here.
The 'Jurassic World' sequel also stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, James Cromwell, Geraldine Chaplin, B.D. Wong, Toby Jones, Rafe Spall, Ted Levine, Daniela Pineda and Justice Smith among others. The film is written by Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly and produced by Steven Spielberg.
Jurassic World 2 is scheduled for release on June 22, 2018.
