Jurassic World sequel set for 2018

Justin Kroll:

After the smash success of “Jurassic World,” Universal has dated a sequel for June 22, 2018.

Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard will return to star in the film, which Steven Spielberg will exec produce through his Amblin Entertainment banner.

Colin Trevorrow, who directed “Jurassic World,” will co-write the screenplay with Derek Connolly.

Given Jurassic World is now the third highest grossing movie of all time and Pratt is set to make Guardians of the Galaxy 2 for 2017, little of this news comes as a surprise.

Personally, I'm excited Trevorrow and Connolly are writing the sequel. I think they largely did a good job with World.

Although unlike the vast majority of Hollywood blockbusters I've seen, I did come away from Jurassic World with the feeling that I didn't immediately see an obvious route for a sequel. In fact, my impression was it almost felt as if they painted themselves into a corner where any further sequels might be tough. Certainly there doesn't seem any avenue for the island as a tourist attraction anymore, and I doubt if the writers want to do the whole "let's make up an excuse for our humans to have to go back a dinosaur filled island" plot line from the first two sequels again.

But I've only seen World once. Perhaps there's more threads there that become apparent upon subsequent viewings.

Google's second quarter 2015 financials →

Janko Roettgers for Variety:

What’s more, the YouTube-owned video service also seems to be growing eyeballs, despite increased competition from Facebook. “Growth in watch time on YouTube has accelerated,” said Porat, adding that global watch time is up 60 percent year-over-year, with mobile watch time more than double from what it was a year ago.

Porat’s remarks got seconded by Google’s chief business officer Omid Kordestani, who called YouTube’s watch time growth “the fastest we’ve seen in a couple of years”. A year ago, YouTube’s watch time had accelerated by 50 percent year-over-year, according to a Google spokesperson.

Kordestani also said that the average mobile viewing session on YouTube now lasts more than 40 minutes, and added that mobile viewing alone attracts more 18-49 year-olds in the U.S. than any cable network. The number of channels than earn a six-figure income on YouTube is up 50 percent year-over-year, according to Kordestani.

Improved mobile performance clearly spells good news for the company. Wall Street seemingly agreed, with shares spiking 11% in after-hours trading, causing Google to again overtake Microsoft as the second most valuable company on earth.

Also interesting from these financial results: