Currently, Andy Buckley has one of those faces that you instantly recognize, but probably take a moment to place. It’s hardly surprising, since he’s popped up in relatively small roles in some of the highest profile productions in recent years, including The Office, Bridesmaids, The Other Guys, Veep, Arrested Development and The Heat. By next year, however, it will be his name that you instantly recognize, because Andy Buckley has joined the cast of Jurassic World.
Story ideas for a fourth instalment in the wildly successful franchise have been floating around since Joe Johnston’s Jurassic Park III was released in 2001. None of them really stuck, however, until an early screenplay by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise Of the Planet Of The Apes) made the cut. Original franchise director and executive producer Steven Spielberg announced at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con that the film was in development, and soon director Colin Trevorrow and writer Derek Connolly were on board.
Trevorrow and Connolly previously delivered the exceptionally lovely Safety Not Guaranteed in 2012. On that occasion, Trevorrow directed from Connolly’s screenplay, while both produced. With Jurassic World, they are both pulling writing duties while Trevorrow takes the helm. Thomas Tull (the Dark Knight trilogy), Patrick Crowley (the Bourne franchise), Frank Marshall (the Indiana Jones franchise) and Steven Spielberg will form the formidable team of producers.
This role represents the biggest film to date for Andy Buckley, who joins a cast already featuring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Judy Greer, Jake Johnson, Vincent D’Onofrio and Irrfan Khan. Plot details are being kept very firmly under wraps, but expectations are understandably high. So far, despite the reduced popularity of the third instalment, the Jurassic Park franchise has generated over $2 billion in international box office. With that in mind, all eyes will be on Jurassic World as it is unleashed, in 3D, on June 12 2015.