Jurassic World is really fun, and pretty dumb. I don’t think that’s really in dispute. And it’s been hugely successful, breaking tons and tons of box office records. Nobody’s complaining about how Jurassic World did, and it’s even done fine in the reviews (sort of). But I’m still left wondering… why didn’t Steven Spielberg direct Jurassic World himself?
Steven Spielberg Should Have Directed Jurassic World
Colin Trevorrow did a just-fine job directing Jurassic World. The movie was certainly good enough, and its success comes in part from being way, way better than the other two Jurassic Park sequels (which stink). On the other hand, he’s a pretty no-name guy, with just one feature under his belt before Jurassic World. And Spielberg handed him the keys to one of the biggest series in the world.
Why didn’t Spielberg just make Jurassic World himself? He may have phoned it in for The Lost World back in the ’90s, but Spielberg is still a virtuoso big-budget director, and Jurassic Park was one of his babies. Twenty years later, he doesn’t care, and merely executive produced (i.e. provided guidance, but mostly did nothing). It’s a strange move.
Steven Spielberg’s hands-off role in Jurassic World is even stranger because he wasn’t actually, you know, doing anything else at the time. Spielberg hasn’t directed anything since Lincoln in 2012. Bridge of Spies, his next movie, is coming out in October, but that means he actively chose to direct that—a freaking Tom Hanks movie—instead of Jurassic World.
What gives? Sure, I get it, Spielberg has three billion dollars in the bank and can do anything he wants. He doesn’t have to direct projects he doesn’t want to direct. I understand that. But why didn’t Spielberg want to direct Jurassic World? That’s what I have an issue with. I want him to have wanted to direct it. Instead, he passed the torch on to an up-and-comer.
That’s his right, obviously. It’s just a shame. Because a Spielberg-directed Jurassic World would have been even better than Trevorrow’s… maybe… or at least it would feel more authentic. But Spielberg’s almost 70, and I guess sooner or later that change has to happen. I just wish we could get one more epic blockbuster from the guy who basically invented them.
