Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow has revealed that the three key characters from the Steven Spielberg-produced dinosaur-park franchise will not be returning for the fourth instalment of the series.
Speaking to IGN, Trevorrow said that Ian Malcolm (played by Jeff Goldblum), who featured in Jurassic Park and its follow-up, The Lost World, and Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), who were lead characters in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III, have been written out of Jurassic World.
"I know a lot of fans want to see the original characters back." Trevorrow said. "They're iconic. But I respect those actors too much to shoehorn them into this story for my own sentimental reasons. Jurassic Park isn't about the bad luck of three people who keep getting thrown into the same situation. The only reason they'd go back to that island is if the screenwriters contrived a reason for them to go."
However, he told IGN that a minor character from the first film, chief geneticist Dr Henry Wu (played by BD Wong) will have a considerably enhanced role in Jurassic World. "He spent two decades living in Hammond's shadow, underappreciated. We think there's more to his story."
Jurassic World, which stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, is set to begin shooting shortly, with a view to a US and UK release on June 12, 2015.
• Jurassic Park IV: something has survived (and scarily, it's half human)
• This article was amended on 26 November 2014 to correct the release date.
