Jurassic World: Dominion wraps filming in the UK after spending £6m on COVID-19 safety

Jurassic World: Dominion has wrapped shooting at Pinewood Studios in England, after adopting rigorous health and safety measures worth around £6 million.

The sixth film in the Jurassic Park franchise became the first major movie to resume production amid the COVID-19 crisis, as lockdown restrictions began to ease over the summer.

In order to do so, cast and crew had to isolate together for months, without being able to see their families, and a total of 40,000 coronavirus tests were carried out in the process.

According to Deadline, the Jurassic World set was equipped with a ‘Greenzone’, which saw staff temperature-checked daily, a slew of medical staff on hand and isolation booths at the ready.

Pinewood plastered 1,800 COVID-related signs around the studios and added 150 hand sanitizer stations as well as 60 more sinks for hand-washing. At the end of each day, all communal areas were antiviral fogged.

As a result of the strict measures, only an estimated 100 COVID-19 tests returned positive – some of which were false positives.

One positive case forced production to halt temporarily last month, but this was a minor spanner in the works and shooting soon resumed. 

Sequel: The sixth film in the Jurassic Park franchise became the first major movie to resume production amid the COVID-19 crisis, as lockdown restrictions began to ease over the summer

Director Colin Trevorrow [second left] – who also co-wrote the sequel – marked the end of filming this weekend by posting a snap with some of the cast to Instagram, captioning it: ‘Wrap on Jurassic World Dominion. Always hard to say goodbye to family’

Director Colin Trevorrow said: ‘I’m not sure I can put it into words. It has been remarkable. Our crew and our cast has been so resilient. All producers have worked around the clock to make it the best it can be. It has been inspiring.’

Likening the process of returning to work amid a pandemic as being part of a family, he added: ‘I’ve never been as immersed in a filmmaking process. Because of the protocols, the actors didn’t go far from set. The distance was stripped away. There was a lot of laughter at a time when it has been hard to find things to laugh about.’

The director – who also co-wrote the sequel – marked the end of filming this weekend by posting a snap with some of the cast to Instagram, captioning it: ‘Wrap on Jurassic World Dominion. Always hard to say goodbye to family.’

The film continues the Jurassic Park saga, picking up where 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom left off, with a collection of dinosaurs – including a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Velocirapter – loose on mainland America.

Jurassic Park 6: The film continues the dinosaur saga, which began in 1993

Returning to the saga: The film brings back Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, who starred in 1993 original Jurassic Park [pictured on set last month]

And Trevorrow mused on this theme, and how well-suited it is to current times.

‘This movie is about the need to co-exist and survive together. If this pandemic has taught us anything it’s that we need the different generations to protect each other. It was the right movie to be making at this moment,’ he added.

The film features Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, but brings back Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, who starred in 1993 original Jurassic Park.

While all three have since appeared in the franchise again [Neill and Dern in 2001’s Jurassic Park III, Goldblum in 1997’s The Lost World and 2018’s Fallen Kingdom] this will be the first time the trio are on set again together.

Continuation: Picking up where 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom left off, Dominion sees a collection of dinosaurs – including a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Velocirapter – loose on mainland America

That’s a wrap! As a result of the pandemic, Jurassic World: Dominion’s release date has been pushed back a year, to June 10 2022

The movie also sees the return of recurring characters B D Wong, Justice Smith, Isabella Sermon, Omar Sy and Daniella Pineda, and adds Mamoudou Athie and DeWanda Wise to the cast.

While the film was slated to be the end of the Jurassic World trilogy, producer Frank Marshall told Collider earlier this year that it will likely not be the end of the Jurassic Park franchise. 

‘It’s the start of a new era,’ he said. ‘The dinosaurs are now on the mainland amongst us, and they will be for quite some time, I hope.

As a result of the pandemic, Jurassic World: Dominion’s release date has been pushed back a year, to June 10 2022.