One of the biggest attractions of Jurassic World Dominion is the return of Jurassic Park stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum. Having not appeared in the franchise since Jurassic Park III over 20 years ago, Sam Neill has now explained why he decided to reprise his role as Alan Grant after such a long time. After being chased by dinosaurs twice before, it seems that the Neill’s main reason for wanting to come back and be hunted down by more fearsome creatures comes down to his love of the character, as well as getting to reunite with some old friends.

Following the success of Jurassic Park, Neill dropped out of the first sequel, The Lost World, but did come back for Jurassic Park III in 2001. While the film provided plenty of dinosaur action, including a brilliant pterodactyl scene from the original Jurassic Park novel that was not used in the 1993 movie, the overall reaction to the movie pulled down by what was called a “cop-out” ending, and it seemed that franchise was going to end there.

Now Jurassic World Dominion is pulling out all the stops to bring the Jurassic World trilogy to a close and deliver – for now – an end to the Jurassic Park saga. While speaking to Gizmodo ahead of the new movie’s release, Neill explained that it was a combination of a number of things that drew him back to the sequel. He said:

“Well, mostly his great and abiding affection for those characters and how he wanted them to be completely integrated into the Jurassic World world. And so that persuaded me. And also the idea of hanging out with Jeff and Laura again which, of course, is an attractive one in itself.”

Related: Jurassic World Dominion Clip Finds Heroes Old & New Coming Face to Face with the Giga

Jurassic World Dominion Has Already Opened In Some Countries

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Universal Pictures 

While the movie goes on general release worldwide on June 10, Jurassic World: Dominion has already opened in selected countries around the world and kicked off with some encouraging box office results in countries like South Korea and Italy. With Top Gun: Maverick currently topping the box office around the world, it is likely that Tom Cruise’s high-flying return will have a short-lived run in the #1 spot.

The Jurassic saga has always been a huge crowd-pleaser and Jurassic World became one of the biggest movies of all time on its release. As the two franchises of the series come together, there are many expecting the film to battle with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to be the biggest movie of the year so far.

One thing for certain is that following the disappointing cameo by Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, this time around there is no way any of the old stars are taking a back seat and will be front and center of the action alongside Jurassic World’s Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. With the movie also bringing the dinosaurs into the real world, there is plenty to keep fans of the franchise happy.