Today’s article is a guest contribution written by Chris Kay. It is important to note that this article was written before the recent ‘Generation Jurassic’ event – and so many of the sentiments reflected inside it may be things which were seen at the event.
Chris, like many of us, is a long-term fan of this franchise who wants to see more opportunities for fans to come together in the future – so we hope you enjoy reading through his pitch for a dream ‘Jurassic Celebration’ on the same level as Star Wars Celebration. Enjoy!
Credit to https://www.seltzerlicensing.com/insights/ny-comic-con-licensed-products-spotted/.
After listening to a recent episode of ‘The Wire’ on The Jurassic Park Podcast, I began to wonder. Could the Jurassic community hold its very own multi-day fan event, like Star Wars Celebration? This article aims to explore what an event like that could look like – but first we need to consider whether Jurassic as a franchise has the ability to sustain such an event.
The box office sales and amount of pop culture references to Jurassic certainly suggest so. Making comparison to Star Wars, it is fair to say that Star Wars Celebration has a lot of material to draw from – with twelve feature films, 3 animated shows, several console games, several books, upcoming television series – not to mention an unlimited number of actors and action figures! In contrast, Jurassic has a smaller pool to choose from – with six films and one animated show – but this is likely to continue to grow in the years to come. It is important to note that Celebration actually began after the release of ‘The Phantom Menace’ in 1999 – so in comparison Jurassic certainly seems in a good position. Ultimately, however, only Universal will know if such an event is worth the risk!
An event like this could be used by Universal and Amblin to reveal their future plans for the franchise, hold Q&A style announcements, and even showcase trailers or show-reels. Mattel and LEGO would thrive here – with the platform enabling them to showcase future projects and products, alongside hosting displays and building areas. Stages could be hosted with Q&As on products and preorders, and fan-exclusive products could be sold at the events – with something like Gennaro being eaten on the toilet being a perfect candidate for a fan-event item! The idea would be to give Jurassic licensees a platform where they can connect with fans and share their upcoming products and projects. Other partners could attend – including companies like Topps or Upperdeck, and also Funko. Why not have an exclusive Pop! for the event? With a large-scale event like this the possibilities would be endless.
It’s also fun thinking about the areas which could be outlined for fans – like a podcast stage with the Jurassic Park Podcast, featuring your host, Brad Jost! You could also have live shows from the InGeneral Podcast, the Missing Compys Podcast, See Jurassic Right, and other podcasts. You could even have an artist area, a tabletop gaming area, and also other fan events like cosplay competitions! There would be some great opportunities to bring fans together and create a fun event which would highlight some of the best parts of the Jurassic community and the people who populate it. Let’s not forget the opportunity for guests attending too – allowing fans to meet people like Chris Pratt or Laura Dern. Imagine photo opportunities like Sam Neill holding a Raptor Claw to your stomach – it would be fantastic!
An event like this could be hosted at Universal Studios. Why not incorporate the Jurassic World rides, and then even consider holding similar events across the globe if it proves popular enough? Event centres like the ExCel in London, which hosts London MCM Expo, could provide a fantastic space for future events. Or why not host a special event at the new land when it opens in Beijing? There really is a limitless number of opportunities for Jurassic World to become a global brand with events and fan engagement which reflects that.
All-in-all Jurassic has made over $5 billion in tickets sale, it certainly has the fan base to have such an event. The hard-core fans are screaming for this event to happen. Universal, make it happen!
Thanks to Chris for this guest contribution. You can follow him by clicking here.
Make sure to stay tuned to The Jurassic Park Podcast for plenty more content as we approach the release of Jurassic World Dominion!
Written by: Chris Kay