The Jurassic Park and Jurassic World timeline spans 65-million years but most of the action takes place in the six films from 1993 to 2022. Jurassic Park was originally created by author Michael Crichton and his bestselling technothriller was adapted into a blockbuster film by Steven Spielberg in 1993. Spielberg's film changed many aspects of Crichton's novel and every succeeding Jurassic Park movie and TV project worked from the canon established by Spielberg's movies.
Jurassic Park's incredible success spawned two more sequels in 1997 and 2001 before it was soft-rebooted as Jurassic World by Colin Trevorrow in 2015. Jurassic World began a second trilogy that continued in 2018's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom as well as a canonical animated Netflix spinoff, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous. 2022's Jurassic World: Dominion aims to tie together the entire six-film saga and bring it all to a definite conclusion. Trevorrow's Jurassic World: Dominion also reunites Spielberg's Jurassic Park legacy characters, Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), and teams them up with Jurassic World's heroes, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), Claire Dearing (Bruce Dallas Howard), and Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon).
Of course, the other (and some would say the real) stars of the Jurassic movies are the cloned dinosaurs, especially the T-Rex and the Velociraptors. Jurassic World introduced the concept of genetically-engineered hybrid dinosaurs, bringing monstrous supervillain dinos like the Indominus Rex and the Indoraptor into the franchise's lore. Jurassic World: Dominion will deal with the fallout of the dinosaurs rescued from Isla Nublar let loose across the globe, forcing humanity and the ancient creatures to co-exist. The Jurassic saga is often said to be "an adventure 65-million years in the making" and Jurassic World: Dominion will mark the end of the epic story. Here are the major events that span the Jurassic Park and World timeline.
65 Million Years Ago
The prologue for Jurassic Park: Dominion established that 65-million years ago, a Tyrannosaurus Rex was killed by a Gigantosaurus, the largest apex predator in existence. However, a fly drank the blood of the dead T-Rex and was then encased in the amber of a tree. This would be the same fly preserved in amber that InGen scientists extracted dinosaur DNA from in the early 1990s. This also means that the T-Rex in Jurassic Park is the clone of the very super predator that was killed by the Gigantosaurus.
Of course, the dinosaurs went extinct 65-million years ago but thanks to Jurassic Park science, enough DNA was retrieved - and then remixed with amphibian DNA - to successfully clone multiple species of dinosaurs, which makes the Jurassic movies possible.
1975: John Hammond Founds InGen With Benjamin Lockwood
InGen (International Genetics Technologies, Inc.) was founded by John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) in 1975. Hammond "dreamed up" the idea to clone prehistoric dinosaurs from DNA fossilized in Amber. Hammond set up a research group headed by Dr. Henry Wu (B.D. Wong) to put his dream into effect. The first prehistoric creature was successfully cloned in 1985.
Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom retconned InGen's origin story to reveal that Hammond partnered with Scottish businessman Sir Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell), his best friend, to found InGen. Lockwood also built a fully-functional genetics lab beneath Lockwood Manor in Northern California. While InGen was based in Palo Alto, the dinosaur cloning operations moved to Isla Sorna (Site B) near Costa Rica. InGen also acquired Isla Nublar as the site of the dinosaur theme park destination they named Jurassic Park.
1993: Jurassic Park
By 1993, Jurassic Park was nearly operational and preparing to open to the public. To calm investors' fears, Hammond recruited paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant, paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler, and mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm to tour and evaluate the feasibility of Jurassic Park as a functioning safari/zoo. However, rival genetics company BioSyn hired Jurassic Park's programmer Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) to steal dinosaur embryos. Inclement weather then created a disaster that brought down the park's electrical grid, allowing the dinosaurs to escape their paddocks.
As the dinosaurs took over Isla Nublar, Dr. Grant was trapped in the jungle with Hammond's young grandchildren, Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim (Joseph Mazzello). Grant kept them safe and was able to return to Jurassic Park's visitor center in time to evacuate the island. Realizing the disastrous implications of his Jurassic Park dream, Hammond decided the park should never open.
Post-1993: Hammond And Lockhart Fall Out
Benjamin Lockwood's daughter, Charlotte, and her husband were killed in a car accident sometime after the collapse of Isla Nublar. Left with no blood relatives, the devastated Lockwood decided to use the cloning technology in his manor to recreate his daughter. Hammond, who was changed from the Jurassic Park incident, discovered Lockwood's plans and was incensed at the "unholy thing" his partner intended to do. Hammond and Lockwood had a falling out, with Benjamin secluding himself in Lockwood Manor.
1997: The Lost World: Jurassic Park
By 1997, the ailing John Hammond is near death and has been replaced as InGen's CEO by his nephew, Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard). Hammond invites Ian Malcolm to join a team to travel to Isla Sorna and document the dinosaurs there, which have been released into the wild following a hurricane. At Site B, where the dinosaurs were bred, Malcolm learns that Ludlow hired mercenaries to capture the dinosaurs in order to bring them back as attractions in Jurassic Park San Diego, an amphitheater and zoo Hammond abandoned in favor of the park at Isla Nublar. Ludlow's mercs capture a fully-grown T-rex and an infant and prepare it for transport to the United States.
The ship carrying the T-rex accidentally crashes into the docks and the super predator is let loose to rampage throughout San Diego. Malcolm and Dr. Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore) use the infant T-rex to lead the adult back to the docks and seal it in the ship. The T-Rexes are then transported back to Isla Sorna. Hammond announces that the United States and Costa Rican governments have declared Site B as a nature preserve.
1997-2001: Hammond's Death, Masrani Global Acquires InGen
By the time of his death in 1998, John Hammond had converted from an industrialist and capitalist seeking to profit from his cloned dinosaurs into a naturalist who wanted his creations left alone on their islands. That same year, Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan), the CEO of Masrani Global Corporation, acquired InGen with an eye on fulfilling Hammond's initial dream of opening Jurassic Park on Isla Nublar.
2001: Jurassic Park III
In 2001, a 12-year-old boy named Eric Kirby (Trevor Morgan) goes missing while vacationing near Isla Sorna. Soon afterward, his parents, Paul (William H. Macy) and Amanda Kirby (Tea Leoni), hire Dr. Alan Grant under false circumstances to lead a team to Isla Sorna and rescue Eric. The Kirbys' plane crashes after they are attacked by the island's super predator, the Spinosaurus. Grant locates Eric, who has managed to survive on the island, and they attempt to reach the shore. Although the rest of their team are killed by attacks from Velociraptors, Pteranodons, and the Spinosaurus, Grant successfully leads the Kirbys to the beach where they are met by the US Navy.
2005: Masrani Global Corporation Opens Jurassic World
7 years after purchasing InGen, Masrani Global Corporation opened the rebranded Jurassic World on Isla Nublar. Claire Dearing came aboard as Jurassic World's Senior Assets Manager while Owen Grady was hired as the park's animal behaviorist/Velociraptor trainer. Jurassic World contained elements of a biological preserve, a zoo, and a theme park, as well as a luxury resort with hotels, restaurants, nightlife, and a golf course.
Masrani expanded upon Hammond's initial Jurassic Park dream with more dinosaur attractions, including the Mosasaurus in the Jurassic World Lagoon. Jurassic World operated successfully for ten years. However, Masrani also learned that the public's fascination with dinosaurs was waning, which led to the company pressuring Dr. Henry Wu to create hybrid dinosaurs like the Indominus Rex as new attractions for the park.
2015: Jurassic World
In 2015, after 10 years of Jurassic World operating without incident, disaster struck that doomed Masrani's dinosaur park. The Indominus Rex escaped its paddock and wreaked havoc on the island. The Indominus' rampage created a domino effect, such as the Pteranodons escaping their enclosure, which led to the death of Simon Masrani when the dinosaurs attacked his helicopter and caused it to crash. Jurassic World was evacuated while Owen Grady and Claire Dearing teamed up to stop the Indominus Rex.
Grady weaponized the three Velociraptors he trained, led by Blue, to help him hunt the Indominus. In addition, Dearing set loose the original T-Rex from Jurassic Park, which had been living on Isla Nublar since the fall of Hammond's park in 1993, to fight the Indominus. The hybrid super-predator was eventually defeated and eaten by the Mosasaurus. Owen and Claire, along with her nephews, evacuated Jurassic World, which was permanently shut down as the remaining dinosaurs escaped and took over Isla Nublar once again.
2015-2018: Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous
Netflix's animated Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, which has run for 4 seasons with season 5 premiering in July 2022, began during the events of Jurassic World and continues past the prologue of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. At the start of Camp Cretaceous, six teenagers are brought to the island as the inaugural group of Campers, and they witness the fall of Jurassic World. Trapped on the island, the kids are forced to survive on their own, encountering the dinosaurs now roaming free throughout Isla Nublar. The Campers also encounter enemy big game hunters and a new hybrid predator created by Dr. Henry Wu, the Scorpios Rex. In addition, the Campers witness the acquisition of the Indominus Rex's DNA from the Mosasaurus that led to the creation of the Indoraptor.
By the start of Camp Creatceous season 4, the Campers escaped Isla Nublar but are stranded on a new island owned by Mantah Corp that contains not just dinosaurs like the Spinosaurus making its post-Jurassic Park III comeback, but also other prehistoric creatures like sabretooth tigers, as well as robotic enforcers. The teens learn Mantah Corp has cloned their own dinosaurs and has genetically manipulated their creatures to fight each other for their investors. Kenji (Ryan Potter), the oldest of the Campers, also discovers that his own father is the CEO of Mantah Corp. Camp Cretaceous season 5 will be the final season bringing this story to its end and it also promises to tie into the events of Jurassic World: Dominion.
2017: Claire Dearing Founds The Dinosaur Protection Group
In the aftermath of the fall of Jurassic World, Claire Dearing and several of the park's employees felt responsible for the dinosaurs. When Isla Nublar's volcano, Mt. Sibo, suddenly became active, Claire founded the Dinosaur Protection Group to secure funding and rescue the dinosaurs. Two of Claire's key DPG hires were systems analyst Franklin Webb (Justice Smith) and paleo veterinarian Zia Rodriguez (Daniella Pineda).
2018: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Claire Dearing learns that Benjamin Lockwood and Eli Mills (Rafe Spall), who runs Lockwood's business affairs, have funded an operation to rescue the dinosaurs from Isla Nublar before Mt. Sibo's eruption destroys the island. Claire recruits Owen Grady, who joins the expedition to rescue Blue, his pet Velociraptor. After they reach Isla Nublar, Grady is betrayed by Wheatley (Ted Levine), the mercenary leading the mission. Lockwood's mercs capture multiple dinosaur species and leave the rest to die on the island. Owen, Claire, and their friends survive the volcanic eruption and stow away on the ships with the dinosaurs returning to Lockwood Manor.
At the Manor, Owen and Claire discover that the dinosaurs are being sold at a secret auction. Further, Dr. Henry Wu created a new hybrid super predator, the Indoraptor, which was bred from the DNA of the Indominus Rex. Another shocker is the fact that Lockwood's young niece, Maisie, is a perfect human clone of Benjamin's deceased daughter, Charlotte. After Owen, Claire, and Grady survive an encounter with the Indoraptor, Maisie decides to let the captured dinosaurs beneath the Manor loose. The escaped dinosaurs flee throughout Northern California and begin to spread across the globe.
2019: Jurassic World: Battle At Little Big Rock
Jurassic World: Battle at Little Big Rock is set one year after the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Battle at Little Big Rock centers on a blended family on vacation faced with the reality of rampaging dinosaurs in their midst when an Allosaurus and a Nasutoceratops fight in their campground. Battle at Little Big Rock also ended with a montage of other dinosaurs spread throughout the world and terrorizing civilization, setting up the events of Jurassic World: Dominion. Directed by Colin Trevorrow, the short film premiered on FX in 2019 prior to being released online.
2022: Jurassic World: Dominion
Four years after the dinosaurs were let loose in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, they have now proliferated throughout the world. As revealed by the trailer for Jurassic World: Dominion, Owen Grady discovers Blue the Velociraptor has managed to breed. The worldwide spread of the dinosaurs has also become a crisis that requires the expertise of Dr. Alan Grant, Dr. Ellie Sattler, and Dr. Ian Malcolm. Dominion will also see the return of Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott), the CEO of BioSyn, who last appeared in Jurassic Park (and was played by Cameron Thor). Further, the Jurassic heroes encounter a new clone of the Gigantosaurus, the largest predator ever to walk the Earth. Exactly how Jurassic World: Dominion will wrap up the epic dinosaur saga remains to be seen.
