Cinemas back in dinosaur era

"A lot of us were away from home and that can be challenging. Luckily, we had each other, and we made it through like a family. ... I think we made the movie better."

Meanwhile, China has excavated a number of dinosaur fossils, which Trevorrow says is also a connection. The Jurassic World franchise has earned big success in the country, with the first movie raking in 1.4 billion yuan ($210.2 million) in 2015, and its sequel, Fallen Kingdom, grossing 1.7 billion yuan.

"I think it's successful in China because there's a real history of dinosaurs in China and (there were) major dinosaur discoveries throughout China's natural history. So, just like everyone around the world, I think we are fascinated with the prehistoric creatures because we know they are real," he says.

Over decades, the sci-fi epic's top draw, the dinosaur, which lived millions of years ago, has been brought to the screens by digital technology.

Stephen Brusatte, a professor of paleontology and evolution at the University of Edinburgh and who's also an expert consultant for the film, says in an introducing document provided by Universal Pictures that the franchise has "showed dinosaurs in a way they had never been shown before". It led to more public curiosity about dinosaurs and to many more young people going into paleontology, he says.

"It led to more money going into the field, it led to more universities putting on dinosaur courses, it caused museums to put on dinosaur exhibits, and we're still reaping the benefits of that," says Brusatte.

In the new movie, a total of 27 individual dinosaurs are shown, with 10 not seen in any of the previous Jurassic films. The stunning creatures include a Pyroraptor, whose name means "fire thief", a gorgeous and terrifying fire-red feathered dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period, and four Atrociraptors ("savage robber"), a fierce pack of carnivores from the Cretaceous period.

Pratt and Howard-who have been playing the lead roles, respectively as a dinosaur trainer and operations manager, over eight years-have accumulated tips to deal with bad-tempered dinosaurs.