Jurassic World’s dinos on the loose in Malta bid for ‘screen tourists’

Full-scale of models of velociraptors Blue and Beta from Universal franchise Jurassic World ‘roam’ film locations

The Malta Film Commission is milking the ‘Jurassic World’ franchise’s recent Malta instalment with three dinosaur attractions from the Jurassic World Dominion movie “in an effort to ignite Malta's screen tourism niche”, said commissioner Johann Grech.

The three full-scale velociraptors – familiar to fans of the Jurassic World franchise as “Blue” and “Beta” – can be found in Valletta’s St. George’s Square, near the Freedom monument in Birgu and near the Mellieħa police station, with all three localities having featured in the epic conclusion of the Jurassic World franchise which shot in Malta in 2020.

Visitors can experience these dinosaur attractions until the end of summer.

Despite being panned by critics worldwide, Jurassic World Dominion has managed to rake in massive box office revenues: seven weeks since release it has amassed $369 million in the United States and $573 million from overseas territories, making it the third-biggest film of the year, behind Top Gun: Maverick ($1.3 billion) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($954 million). The film’s two-day total is actually higher than what the first Jurassic World made in 2015, and in line with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’s debut in 2018. The film’s biggest international territory remains China, which accounts for $157 million. 

“Today, we mark our first steps towards Screen Tourism, and we are working on more initiatives,” Grech told the press. “We want to attract more tourists interested in film locations. And that’s why we have started with dinosaur attractions in three different locations in Malta – Valletta, Birgu and Mellieħa – where Jurassic World Dominion was filmed.”

The dinosaur models, officially licensed by Universal Pictures, are accompanied by signage describing details of each showcase and every attraction includes a QR-code with an interactive website link.

Tourism minister Clayton Bartolo said Jurassic World: Dominion had left a positive impact on the island. “This film showcases Malta as Malta, and has helped to push our film industry reputation, and our tourism.”

Bartolo said that the Malta Film Commission was working to establish Malta's first-ever soundstage and creating careers for the first time in Malta’s film industry.