A website created to promote the upcoming fourth Jurassic Park film – Jurassic World – has gone live this week. The site claims to promote not of the film but the fictional dinosaur safari park where the movie is set, reports BGR.
Causing the most excitement among fans are the 'webcams' of the park. Of course these are no such thing – they're pre-recorded clips, presumably shot specially to promote the film.
And the big surprise is how boring the footage is – nothing really happens at any of the 14 locations, ranging from the Park's main plaza to the inconsequential-sounding 'Maintenance Alley 6'.
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Instead, happy families enjoy the facilities – eating meals, shopping and even kayaking – while workers eat lunch. One review site wonders if it was too expensive to create CGI dinosaurs just for a marketing campaign.
There is another theory, however: there may be more yet to come. In the meantime, what does the site tell us about the new film?
Indominus rex
Arriving at the site, users are greeted with a pop-up ad, not for the film but for the park's upcoming Indominus Rex attraction, which will be ready "this summer". Anybody who has seen the Jurassic World trailer knows the plot hinges on a foolhardy attempt to create a new type of dinosaur by splicing together DNA from others - this must be Indominus rex. The tagline? "Bigger. Louder. More teeth."
Attendance is still high
As well as the webcams, the fake site for the park has a host of information about the film's 'universe'. We now know that almost ten million people have visited the park since it opened in its latest incarnation in 2005. The park's stock price is stable.
No sign of T. rex
One of the webcams is inside the Tyrannosaurus rex paddock, the image panning past thick tropical foliage. Nothing happens – but while users wait to see if the giant lizard will put in an appearance, there is a hint of the tension that made the original Jurassic Park film such a hit.
Branding sorted
Promotional tie-ins are a crucial funding element for most Hollywood movies. The webcams reveal that Starbucks are on board for Jurassic World: one of the cameras 'just happens' to feature the park's Starbucks franchise prominently. Other sponsors include Samsung - the visitor centre familiar from the first three films is now the Samsung Innovation Centre.
Watch this space
The film is released in the US on 12 June – so there's plenty of time for the seemingly dull webcams to develop, says Cinema Blend. All the relaxed employees enjoying lunch in the canteen and happy (or even slightly bored) customers queuing may have a few surprises coming their way.
