Kamila Valieva saga prompts figure skating age limit raise to 17

Four months after the Kamila Valieva saga, the age limit in figure skating is being raised.

Members of the sport's governing body voted Tuesday to gradually increase the minimum age for senior competition from 15 to 17 in the leadup to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan – a significant shift on the heels of Valieva's positive drug test and subsequent collapse earlier this year in Beijing.

The International Skating Union said in a news release that the change is intended to protect "the physical and mental health, and emotional well-being of the Skaters," without referring to Valieva's specifically.

Jan Dijkema, the governing body's president, called it "a very historic decision."

Under the new rule, the age limit for senior competition will remain at 15 for the upcoming season, then rise to 16 for 2023-24 and 17 for all subsequent years. ISU members approved the change by an overwhelming margin at its regular biennial meeting, held this year in Thailand.

Though the new rule has not been directly linked by the ISU to Valieva, the Russian teen undoubtedly served as its impetus.

After helping lead the Russians to team gold at the Beijing Olympics, organizers abruptly canceled the medal ceremony for the event after learning that Valieva, the heavy favorite to win individual gold, had tested positive for a banned substance in December. Following a frantic legal battle at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, she was allowed to compete individually at the Games, despite the positive test, but fell repeatedly in her long program and slipped out of medal contention, finishing fourth.

BRENNAN: What a slap in the face the Valieva decision is for athletes who don't cheat

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The saga prompted international media scrutiny and questions about whether Valieva, then 15 and often seen carrying a stuffed animal to the practice rink, was too young to compete. It also largely overshadowed the rest of the figure skating competition in Beijing, with the sport's age limit becoming the dominant talking point.

Multiple skaters said during the Games that they would be in favor of raising the age limit in their sport, in part because it might help extend skaters' careers.

"When you look at the era of Michelle Kwan or Sasha Cohen, those are people you could cheer for for several years," U.S. skater Mariah Bell said. "It was such a great representation of the sport. So I think to have more athletes like that would be amazing and having an age limit would aid in that happening."

The new rule will most significantly impact the women's competition, where 15- and 16-year-olds have regularly challenged for world titles and Olympic medals in recent years. Two of the top seven finishers at the 2022 Beijing Games – Valieva and American Alysa Liu – would have been too young to compete under the new rule, as would 2018 Olympic gold medalist Alina Zagitova.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.


Snubs from key leaders over Summit of the Americas reveal Biden's ...

CNN —

The decision by Mexico’s President to boycott this week’s summit for regional leaders in Los Angeles rendered futile months of work by President Joe Biden and other top officials to convince him to attend.

Now, key nations in Central America are following President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s lead, dispatching only lower-level delegates instead of their leaders. And by the time Biden arrives to the summit Wednesday, questions over the event’s invitation list and attendees will have obscured its larger purpose, a source of frustration to administration officials who didn’t necessarily expect the mess.

The decision by several countries to stay away from the southern California gathering, a protest of Biden’s decision not to invite three regional autocrats, has underscored the struggle to exert US influence in a region that has become fractured politically and is struggling economically.

And it has exposed the difficulties and contradictions in Biden’s vow to restore democratic values to American foreign policy. Even as he takes a stand against inviting dictators to a summit on US soil, prompting anger and boycotts from those key regional partners, his aides are simultaneously planning a visit to Saudi Arabia — seen as a necessity at a moment of a global energy crisis, despite the kingdom’s grave human rights record. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday the kingdom is an “important partner,” though Biden once said it must be made a “pariah.”

In the end, the White House announced Tuesday that 23 heads of state will attend this week’s Summit of the Americas, which administration officials said was in line with past iterations of the triennial confab. One leader who was on the fence, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, will attend and meet Biden for the first time.

Yet the absences of the presidents of Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala are still notable since the United States has worked to cultivate those leaders as partners on immigration, an issue that looms as a political liability for Biden.

Administration officials on Monday dismissed concerns about attendance at the summit, saying they did not believe lower-level delegates from certain countries will alter the outcome.

“We really do expect that the participation will not be in any way a barrier to getting significant business done at the summit. In fact, quite the opposite, we are very pleased with how the deliverables are shaping up and with other countries commitment to them,” one senior administration official said, adding the commitments will range from short term to long term.

And the White House insisted the President was firm in his view that the autocratic leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua should not be invited to participate — even if it means widening rifts with other countries in the region.

“At the end of the day, to your question, we just don’t believe dictators should be invited. We don’t regret that, and the President will stand by his principle,” Jean-Pierre said.

Troubles have been on the horizon for months

Biden, who arrives in Los Angeles on Wednesday, is expected announce a new partnership with countries in the Western Hemisphere during the gathering as part of a broader effort to stabilize the region, according to the officials.

He and his administration have been working since last year to organize the summit, which was formally announced last August. The city of Los Angeles was selected as the venue in January. Biden named former Sen. Chris Dodd, his friend and former colleague on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as the special adviser for the event.

Dodd traveled in the region to muster support, one of a number of administration envoys to Central and South America that included Vice President Kamala Harris and even first lady Jill Biden. Yet as the summit approached, it became evident an event designed to reassert American leadership in the region was facing serious hurdles.

For weeks before the summit began, López Obrador hinted that he would boycott unless all leaders from the region were invited – including those from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, each of whom has faced US opposition because of their human rights records. Other, mostly leftist leaders signaled they, too, may not attend if invitations did not go to everyone.

Administration officials privately cast doubt those leaders would follow through on their threats, suggesting they were instead attempts to play to domestic audiences that are often skeptical of the United States.

During an April telephone call between Biden and López Obrador, the subject of the summit arose. In a readout, the White House said the men “looked forward to meeting again at the June Summit of the Americas,” a sign the administration believed then the Mexican president would attend.

Over the past weeks, Dodd spent lengthy virtual sessions lobbying López Obrador to reconsider his threat of a boycott. Members of Congress – including Sen. Bob Menendez, Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee – began to publicly agitate against inviting any leaders from Cuba, Venezuela or Nicaragua. And frustration mounted among administration officials that questions over the invitations and attendees were clouding out the summit’s intended goals.

“The biggest problem is that the focus on attendance takes us away from the focus on substance, but that is the logical thing that happens ahead of a summit. It’s like the sausage-making period. We don’t talk much about the substance because the summit hasn’t started yet, we talk only about who might be there,” said Roberta Jacobson, the former US ambassador to Mexico who also served as an adviser to Biden on southern border policy.

Ultimately, the weeks of speculation were put to rest — but not in the way the White House had hoped.

“There cannot be a Summit of the Americas if all countries of the Americas cannot attend,” López Obrador said at a news conference in Mexico City. “This is to continue the old interventionist policies, of lack of respect for nations and their people.”

Mexican President’s absence not a part of a larger rift, officials say

Mexican officials had conveyed their President’s decision to the White House beforehand, and Biden was made aware before the news became public. Instead of meeting at the summit, Biden and López Obrador will meet in Washington next month.

“The fact that they disagree about this issue is now very clear,” a senior administration official said.

Officials sought to emphasize the decision to boycott was rooted in a specific disagreement over the invite list and was not indicative of a larger rift.

“What we have done in recent weeks, going back almost a month now, is consulted – consulted with our partners and friends in the region so that we understood the contours of their views,” the senior administration official said. “In the end, the President decided and very much made this point in all of the engagements that we had … which is that we believe the best use of this summit is to bring together countries that share a set of democratic principles.”

Biden is turning his focus to the Americas after a series of foreign policy crises in other parts of the world, including the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He completed his first visit to Asia at the end of last month.

That region is one where his animating message of “autocracy versus democracy” is playing out in real time, as China works to make inroads and economically challenged nations look for support from abroad.

In opening remarks Wednesday, Biden will unveil the so-called “Americas partnership” that will focus on five issues, including economic recovery, mobilizing investments, supply chains, clean energy and trade – all with the hopes of strengthening US partnerships in a region many US leaders have been accused of ignoring.

During the summit, Biden is also expected to announce more than $300 million in assistance to fight food insecurity, in addition to other private sector commitments, as well as health initiatives and a partnership on climate resilience.

Biden to unveil new initiatives at summit

While at the summit, the President and his team will be unveiling a series of new initiatives.

Harris, who arrived in Los Angeles earlier in the week, on Tuesday announced two updates to her work in addressing the root causes of migration to the southern border. First, she announced that through her “Call to Action,” which aimed to promoting economic opportunity, she has now secured more than $3.2 billion in private investment for the region.

CNN previously reported the new commitments come from 10 companies totaling more than $1.9 billion, including the Gap Inc. which has pledged $150 million by 2025 to increase their sourcing from Central America, according to a fact sheet from the White House. Other companies include Millicom, Yazaki, Unifi, San Mar, Pantaleon and Fundación Terra.

Harris also said she will be launching “In Her Hands,” a new private sector program aimed at empowering, training and protecting men in the northern Central America region and across the Western Hemisphere.

And on Wednesday the Biden administration will unveil an “Action Plan on Health and Resilience in the Americas,” which is aimed at helping partner nations “prevent, prepare for, and respond to future pandemic threats and other public health emergencies while also expanding the equitable delivery of healthcare and public health services to remote, vulnerable, and marginalized populations,” a senior administration official said. The senior administration official said the plan is expected to be fully implemented by 2030.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is expected to announce the initiative at the CEO Summit Plenary Session as well..

As part of Wednesday’s announcement, the administration is slated to announce roughly $100 million in funding, in concert with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), to provide basic and specialized training for 500,000 public health, health science and medical professionals through the next five years through the newly launched Americas Health Corps, or Fuerza de Salud de las Americas.

Caravan highlights need to work fast on migration

As the summit was getting underway, the imperative to make progress on immigration was being starkly illustrated in southern Mexico. A new migrant caravan there set out on foot Monday, timed to bring attention to the issue as leaders were gathering in Los Angeles.

An official with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said a group of about 2,300 people left the southern Mexican city of Tapachula on Monday heading north. The official said the group is comprised mostly of Venezuelans, but also includes migrants from Nicaragua, Cuba, El Salvador and Honduras.

A regional immigration group, Colectivo de Observación y Monitoreo de Derechos Humanos en el SE Mexicano, said in a bulletin that the group included principally families and children “who demand access to migration procedures and dignified treatment by the authorities.” Tapachula, located just across the border from Guatemala, is a popular way station for migrants traveling from Central America.

Under Mexican immigration laws, migrants and asylum-seekers are often made to wait in the area for several months with limited opportunities for work. Northward caravans of migrants have left Tapachula regularly in the past year, although this week’s appears to be one of the largest. This caravan gathered partially in protest to immigration policies and it would be weeks before they arrived to the US southern border, assuming they all do.

In Los Angeles, Biden and other leaders are expected to agree to a new migration document, dubbed the Los Angeles Declaration, during their Friday meetings. It’s meant to spell out how countries in the region and around the world should share responsibility for taking in migrants.

Officials said they were confident Mexico would sign on.

Mexican President won't attend US-hosted Summit of the Americas ...

(CNN) Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Monday he won't be attending the Summit of the Americas , hosted later on this week by the United States, due to the exclusion of several countries in the region.

Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela were not invited to the summit because of the "lack of democratic space and the human rights situations" in the countries, a senior Biden administration official said in a statement to CNN on Monday.

The White House press secretary was more blunt later in the day.

"We just don't believe dictators should be invited. We don't regret that and the President will stand by his principle," Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters after López Obrador announced his boycott.

López Obrador had previously threatened to boycott the summit, which is traditionally attended by leaders from North, Central and South America and the Caribbean and is convened every few years.

"I am not going to the summit because not all American countries are invited and I believe the need to change the policy that has been in place for centuries: The exclusion, the desire to dominate without any reason, the disrespect of countries' sovereignty (and) the independence of each country," López Obrador said at a news conference in Mexico City. He said the country's foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, will attend instead.

The move is a significant snub to President Joe Biden and his administration and threatens to undermine the gathering.

Still, the White House insisted Mexico's absence would not prevent progress. Jean-Pierre said it expected 23 heads of government to attend the gathering, which is being held in Los Angeles.

After announcing he would not attend this week's summit, López Obrador said on Monday he would visit the White House next month and hopes to discuss the inclusion of all leaders from the Americas with Biden.

"We have had candid engagement with President López Obrador as well with other regional partners for more than a month regarding the issue of invitations to the summit," Jean-Pierre said. "It is important to acknowledge that there are a range of views on this question in our hemisphere, as there are in the United States. The President's principal position is that we do not believe that dictators should be invited."

López Obrador's decision is culmination of weeks of speculation about whether the Mexican leader would be able to convince the Biden administration to invite Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

As the White House scrambled to secure attendees for the summit, there had been some frustrations among officials that what was meant to be a centerpiece event highlighting renewed US leadership in the region had been obscured by a fight over invitations.

The decision by López Obrador to boycott came after a concerted effort by the United States to get him to come, including lengthy virtual meetings with former Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, who is serving as Biden's special adviser for the summit.

During an April telephone call between Biden and López Obrador, the subject arose again. In a readout, the White House said the men "looked forward to meeting again at the June Summit of the Americas."

But those efforts were not enough to convince the Mexican leader to attend.

In public, US officials have sought to downplay the importance of López Obrador attending, insisting that the event could still be successful even with the absence of the leader of one of the largest countries in the Americas.

Officials have also suggested privately that López Obrador is playing to a domestic audience by refusing to attend. And they have said important agreements on migration, climate change and the economy are still in the works.

Still, the unsuccessful efforts to secure the attendance of important leaders in the United States' own neighborhood speak to a messier-than-planned process of organizing this week's summit. Several officials said privately the refusal of some leaders to attend had not been fully anticipated when organizing for the summit began last year.

Last week, the White House seemed to acknowledge the questions about attendance had subsumed some of the summit's objectives

"There's always questions about who is coming and who is not, but we should also talk about and focus on what the purpose of this meeting is," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

She shrugged off questions about why everything seemed to be coming together -- or not -- at the last minute.

"I think if you've been following this administration for the past year and a half, one week is not the eleventh hour when it comes to how things move. And so that is a lifetime away for us as a White House," she said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

Kate Sullivan
Kevin Liptak
Jeremy Diamond
Ana Cucalon
Mia Alberti

Biden administration scrambles to avoid embarrassing boycott from ...

(CNN) The participation of Latin American countries in a high-profile regional summit is still in flux , just weeks from when it's scheduled to take place in California amid record migration throughout the Western Hemisphere.

The so-called Summit of the Americas is set to be hosted by the United States in early June, marking the ninth meeting of countries in the region and the first time the US has hosted the gathering since 1994.

But the lead up has already been embroiled in controversy over the guest list, forcing US officials to try to smooth over relations and throwing into question the outcome of the meeting at a critical time in the hemisphere.

Earlier this month, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Mexico's participation will not be confirmed until the US invites every country in the hemisphere, arguing that no country should be excluded from the summit. US officials have repeatedly said the governments of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela will not be invited to the summit due to their human rights records.

But in recent days, the administration has reversed some Trump policies related to Cuba and eased some energy sanctions on Venezuela, signaling the importance of attendance at the summit -- and the importance of avoiding an embarrassing boycott by key countries at a tough political moment for President Joe Biden.

"We are in dialogue, with the purpose of inviting everyone," López Obrador said at a news conference Monday. "At least, they (United States) have acted in a respectful manner, there has not been a total, cutting rejection."

"There are still days to go, I hope that this week we will be able to inform, so as not to be speculating, or with conjectures, leaks; once we have all the elements, we are going to establish our position here," Lopez Obrador added.

An administration official told CNN the Biden administration is evaluating options on incorporating "the voices of the Cuban, Venezuelan, and Nicaraguan people into the Summit process."

If López Obrador skips the gathering and others follow, it would be a snub to the Biden administration, which has stressed relationships with Latin America and has sought to strengthen ties as China makes inroads in the region.

Last week, the US and Mexico held talks about options specific to Mexico for attending the summit, according to a source familiar with the discussions. Talks are ongoing and a decision has not yet been made, the source said.

Former Sen. Christopher Dodd, who's serving as special adviser for the summit, led discussions for the US by phone last Wednesday, according to a White House official. The discussions, the official said, were wide-ranging and included talks about Mexico's attendance

The first wave of invitations for the Summit of the Americas went out last week, according to the White House official, adding the administration is considering additional invites. The White House hasn't released the list of invitees.

The ongoing back-and-forth, though, has sown doubt among US partners in the region over the summit's effectiveness.

"It's a summit that is organized around conversations among presidents or prime ministers," a senior Guatemalan official told CNN. "The summit is important in itself that it happens, but it would be less of a success if it's not at the highest level."

Prior to the invitations being sent out, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said he wouldn't attend the summit after the United States criticized the reappointing of his nation's attorney general. It's unclear whether he'll change his position following the release of invites.

Latin American countries other than Mexico have taken issue with invites not being extended to Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Honduran President Xiomara Castro de Zelaya said on Twitter, "If not all nations are present, it's not a Summit of the Americas."

Guatemala and Honduras have been part of Vice President Kamala Harris' portfolio tackling root causes of migration. In late January, Harris also attended the presidential inauguration of Castro de Zelaya. But she has not reached out to either country in the lead up to the summit.

Argentinian President Alberto Fernandez, meanwhile, said he'll attend the summit but echoed concerns about excluding nations. It's unclear, though, whether Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro -- one of the largest countries in the hemisphere -- will attend.

Bolivian President Luis Arce went a step further, saying he wouldn't participate if countries were excluded.

Matthew Rooney, director of Institute Outreach and Strategic Partnerships at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, noted that it's not out of character for the summit to only invite democratic leaders but the pushback of the last few weeks speaks to the shifting dynamics in the region.

"The United States should be able to invite who it wants to invite to its home and the other guests should be happy to be invited," Rooney told CNN. "It sends a political signal that the drawing power of the United States is not what it used to be and the force of the summit's commitment to democracy is not what it used to be."

The summit comes at a time of massive migration in the Western Hemisphere. According to the Department of Homeland Security, more than 6 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants have fled the country. Nicaraguans have also increasingly been migrants, as well as Haitians who had moved to the region years ago.

Elements of a migrant protection pact are being circulated and discussed among countries ahead of the summit, the senior Guatemalan official said.

First lady Jill Biden visited Ecuador, Costa Rica and Panama in recent days to "emphasize the importance of the US partnership" ahead of the June summit.

Upon departing her trip to Latin America, Biden answered a question as to whether she was reassured the countries she visited would be attending the Summit of the Americas.

"All of the countries I've visited said that they would be there. I'm looking forward to it. It's in like 10 days," she said.

Asked if she was concerned about threats of boycott from certain countries, she said, "I'm not worried. I think that they'll come."

Summit of the Americas 2022 shadowed by Mexico boycott. What to ...

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s Summit of the Americas will get off to a rocky start this week after Mexico's president announced he would not attend the gathering, a major snub for a high-profile event that seeks to convene leaders from North, Central and South America.

The summit, which kicks off Wednesday in Los Angeles, comes as the Biden administration faces record levels of migration to the USA and increasing effects from climate change.

Mexico President won't attend Summit of the Americas in snub to ...

WASHINGTON – Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced Monday that he is skipping this week's Ninth Summit of the Americas, a blow to President Joe Biden as he tries to unite the region to address migration.

“There cannot be a summit if all countries are not invited,” López Obrador said at a press conference Monday after the United States refused to invite Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to the summit.

He said Mexico's foreign affairs secretary, Marcelo Ebrard, will attend the summit instead. López Obrador said he will meet with Biden in July.

López Obrador has been threatening to boycott the summit if the United States didn't invite every country in the region, including the autocratic leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

The Biden administration said they do not want to invite countries that have not upheld democratic principles.

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López Obrador's absence is likely to be seen as a snub to Biden as the U.S. prepares to host the summit for the first time since its inception in 1994. The summit is scheduled to begin Wednesday.

The White House has said climate change, COVID-19 and the economy aregoing to be among some of the issues discussed.

But a priority for the administration is migration. The United States has seen record levels of migrants coming to the U.S.-Mexico border over the past year. In April, the United States saw a record number of border encounters for that month in more than two decades.

The Biden administration has tried to work with key countries in the region, including Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, to address the root causes of migration.

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López Obrador might not be the only key official who is skipping out on the summit.

Newly-elected Honduras President Xiomara Castro previously indicated that she would not attend the summit if some countries were excluded from the event.

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., criticized López Obrador's decision to skip out on the summit, saying it "will unfortunately set back efforts to continue repairing the relationship and to cooperate on issues pertinent to the well-being of both our nations."

Menendez said the Mexican leader is standing "dictators and despots over representing the interests of the Mexican people in a summit with his partners from across the hemisphere."

Contributing: Associated Press

Reach Rebecca Morin at Twitter @RebeccaMorin_

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Potential for a high-profile flop looms over Biden administration's ...

(CNN) Administration officials are still scrambling to secure attendees and prepare announcements for President Joe Biden to make just one week before he hosts Western Hemisphere leaders in Los Angeles for an important regional summit.

It's an unusually last-minute attempt to salvage what officials once described as a top-priority event for relations in the United States' own neighborhood. Absences from critical leaders -- most notably the President of Mexico, who is threatening a boycott -- risk undermining the gathering, even as Biden and his team look to make progress on politically sensitive issues like migration to the US' southern border and economic growth.

Officials say the summit will proceed and have downplayed any anxieties about who might show up. They have begun finalizing the agenda and Biden's schedule for the multi-day gathering.

Yet even before it begins, the summit's organizational squabbling has exposed rifts in a region where Biden once hoped to reassert US leadership.

Next week's Summit of the Americas will mark the ninth meeting of countries in the region and the first time the US has hosted the gathering since it was inaugurated in Miami in 1994. The gathering of nations, stretching from Canada in the north to Chile in the south, offers an opportunity to strengthen ties at a moment of historic migration and as China works overtime to make inroads in the region

Both are critically important issues for Biden, who has framed competition with Beijing as the principal challenge for the coming decades and has struggled to get a handle on illegal border crossings.

But the summit's success may be contingent on who attends.

US officials have repeatedly said the autocratic governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela will not be invited to the summit due to their human rights records. But Mexico and other nations in the region have closer ties to those countries, and have called the invite decision exclusionary.

Senior administration officials on Wednesday dismissed concerns about attendance to the upcoming Summit of the Americas, stressing instead the ongoing coordination among countries to tackle regional issues.

"We still have some final considerations, but we will inform people publicly soon about the final invitation list," said Juan Gonzalez, senior director for the Western Hemisphere at the National Security Council, adding: "We've not been so focused on the who is and who isn't invited and more really on the outcomes that we want to achieve at the summit."

Kevin O'Reilly, the national coordinator for the Summit of the Americas, told lawmakers last week that Venezuela and Nicaragua have not been invited, but deferred to the White House on whether anyone from the Cuban regime has been invited.

"That will be a decision for the White House to make," O'Reilly told Sen. Marco Rubio, who asked about the guest list.

The White House had been mulling an invitation to a Cuban representative , though has yet to confirm any decision. Cuba was not invited to early iterations of the Summit of the Americas in the 1990s but has participated in the last several versions. Then-President Barack Obama held a historic handshake and meeting with Raul Castro at the summit Panama hosted in 2015.

The White House has refused to disclose an invite list, even in the days before the summit is due to begin. Pressed on whether weak attendance would hinder the summit's impact, Gonzalez maintained that the gathering will be "well attended" and the relationship with Mexico will "remain positive."

The White House shrugged off questions about why details were being nailed down a week before the summit begins.

"I think if you've been following this administration for the past year and a half, one week is not the eleventh hour when it comes to how things move. And so that is a lifetime away for us as a White House," press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday.

Still, she seemed to acknowledge the questions about attendance had subsumed some of the summit's objectives.

"I know there's always questions about the invites, there's always questions about who is coming and who is not, but we should also talk about and focus on what the purpose of this meeting is," she said.

The back-and-forth over attendance at the summit is indicative of the shifting dynamics in Western Hemisphere as some countries distance themselves from the US.

Some US officials have downplayed the reluctance of some leaders to attend as attempts to appeal to their political base and have cautioned against reading into the decisions a sign of waning US influence.

The administration has worked to maintain US influence in the region, including through recent high-level visits by first lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Former Sen. Christopher Dodd, who's serving as special adviser for the summit, traveled to South America and met with officials in Brazil, Chile and Argentina. After Dodd's visit, Brazil's Foreign Ministry confirmed Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will attend the summit and plans to hold his first bilateral meetings with Biden.

US-Brazil relations have been strained since former President Donald Trump, Bolsonaro's political ally, failed in his bid for reelection. The Brazilian President was one of the last world leaders to congratulate Biden after the 2020 US election and is publicly critical about US pressure to curb the rising Amazon deforestation in Brazil.

He was initially skeptical of traveling to Los Angeles for the summit and has complained Biden ignored him when they encountered each other at the G20 last year. But he consented to attend when assured he wouldn't be subjected to just a photo-op.

Dodd has held similar conversations with other leaders in the region, including lengthy discussions with López Obrador, though hasn't yet secured the Mexican leader's commitment to attend.

Even the attendance of countries working directly with the US government -- and more specifically, Harris -- remains in question. The leaders of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador have also not yet committed to going to the summit next week, even though Harris has worked to cultivate relationships in the region, including attending the Honduran President's inauguration in January. Harris spoke with Honduras President Xiomara Castro last week, but the readout did not mention the summit.

Other nations, including Chile and Argentina, have criticized Washington's decision to exclude certain countries.

Latin American countries have been discussing attendance amongst themselves, according to a senior Guatemalan official.

"Each country has its own decision-making process and arguments in order to say we go, or we don't go," the senior Guatemalan official said. Guatemala is expected to send a delegation to the summit, though it's unclear whether the President will attend.

The Biden administration is preparing a declaration on migration for countries to sign on to that provides a framework for migrant protection.

"This declaration is going to allow us to focus on promoting stabilization in communities that are hosting migrants, helping those communities and the migrants that they are hosting, ensuring things like access to legal documentation and public services," Brian Nichols, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the State Department, told reporters Wednesday.

Officials also expect to deliver outcomes on boosting economic growth, coordinating on pandemic recovery and combating climate change.

Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro expressed optimism about the summit, even if some countries don't attend. "We can make it work. We have a day-to-day relationship with these countries, but the summit is a chance for the countries to come together and plan ahead," he told CNN.

But, Castro added, countries who have yet to commit "would be missed' if they didn't attend.

Yet without assurances of who will attend, it remained unclear what weight the summit's statements would hold.

Traveling in Latin America last week, first lady Jill Biden — who will join her husband in Los Angeles for an opening ceremony and leaders' dinner — said she was reassured the countries she visited, including Ecuador, Panama and Costa Rica, would be attending the Summit of the Americas.

The first lady waved off concerns of a boycott.

"I'm not worried," she said. "I think that they'll come."

Biden watches as Latin American leaders criticize his decision to ...

(CNN) President Joe Biden on Thursday watched on as Latin American leaders lambasted his decision to exclude autocratic leaders from the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, just moments after the President had delivered remarks underscoring his belief that the future of the Western Hemisphere should be a democratic one.

Belize's prime minister, John Briceño, said on the stage of a summit plenary Thursday afternoon, "The future of the Western Hemisphere is a question for all of the countries of this hemisphere. Irrespective of our size, our GDP, our system of governance -- we all have a shared interest in a sustainable, resilient and equitable future."

As Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris watched Briceño speak from mere feet away, he added that it is "inexcusable that all countries of the Americas are not here and the power of the summit (is) diminished by their absence."

Briceño called the isolation of certain countries who were not invited "incomprehensible" and specifically called on Biden to end its blockade on Cuba, calling it "un-American" and "an affront to humanity." And he called Venezuela's absence "unforgivable."

Argentine President Alberto Fernández said during a speech later in the program that rules of future summits should be changed to prevent nations from being excluded. He also criticized measures taken against Cuba and Venezuela, such as the embargo.

"I am sorry that all of us, who should have been here, are not present," Fernández said.

"We definitely would have wished for a different Summit of the Americas. The silence of those who were absent is calling to us," he added.

The direct criticism from some of the Biden's fellow heads of state contradicted days of statements from the administration that the summit would be unaffected by the absences of the leaders of Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Bolivia, and the exclusion of three autocratic nations. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador boycotted the summit over the exclusion of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, all autocratic nations. The snubs from key leaders have loomed over the summit, despite the administration's attempts to downplay their significance.

Earlier, Biden opened the plenary telling leaders and delegates at the summit that the conference has already produced "a lot of strong and constructive diplomacy."

"(Over) the next few days, we have an opportunity to find ways we can do better for all of our people by working together -- and I emphasize together, together. That's what our people expect of us. And it's our duty to show them the power of democracies to deliver when democracies work together," Biden said.

But in a short closing speech, Biden noted the disapproval in room by other leaders, but said there were more agreements on "substantive things."

"I think we're off to a strong start," Biden said, adding that he believed the countries had many things they agreed on, "notwithstanding some of the disagreements with regard to participation."

Earlier Thursday, Biden told executives that he sees "no reason why" the region "does not develop into the most democratic hemisphere in the world" over the next decade.

"We have everything," the President said in remarks at the CEO Summit of the Americas. "We have the people, we have the resources, and we have more democracies in this hemisphere than any other hemisphere. There's a lot we can do."

He also urged executives to "step up" and "play a bigger role" in driving "inclusive, sustainable and equitable" economic growth in the 21st century, calling for both the private sector and government to work together to "deliver real improvement for people's lives." That growth, he argued, is in their "own overwhelming economic self-interest." He called for building more resilient supply chains, an issue he said had affected everyone in the room, and argued that the region was "filled with dynamic energy" ready for the future.

Biden has said throughout his presidency that the world is at a historical inflection point as to whether nations will choose democracy or autocracy. On Thursday, he told executives in the room that "our challenge is to shape the outcomes so the future reflects the democratic values of our region."

The President struck a broadly optimistic tone throughout Thursday's events, despite a rocky start to the Los Angeles summit -- which has included nearly two dozen leaders from Latin America.

Through new economic and migration announcements, Biden has aimed to demonstrate a level of cohesion across the two continents' politics, but boycotts by leaders of several nations -- including Mexico and three Central American countries -- has put a damper on the summit.

The four leaders refused to attend because Biden declined to extend invitations to the three autocratic leaders.

Following his speech to executives, Biden held a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and met with the leaders of Caribbean nations alongside Vice President Kamala Harris.

In his meeting with leaders from the Caribbean, Biden told CNN he was not concerned about boycotts by other heads of state deciding not to attend the summit.

Biden also held a bilateral meeting Thursday with Jair Bolsonaro, during which the Brazilian President emphasized the need for reliable elections in his country.

"In Brazil ... we do wish to have honest, clean, transparent, auditable, reliable elections, so there'll be no shadow of a doubt whatsoever following the elections," Bolsonaro said sitting alongside Biden.

"I'm quite certain that the elections will very much be carried out in this democratic spirit. I came to office through democracy, and I am quite certain that when I leave office, it will also be through democratic means," he added.

The White House had indicated that the two Presidents would discuss "free, fair, transparent democratic elections" in their talks, after Bolsonaro, a far-right populist, made comments casting doubt on Biden's 2020 election victory. He has also questioned the reliability of Brazil's election systems.

Later Thursday, Biden will meet with other heads of state for dinner at the Getty Villa.

Biden on Wednesday launched the summit by calling for cooperation and a renewed focus on democracy -- an urgent appeal after his exclusion of autocratic leaders at the conference.

He said at the start of the three-day summit that it was now critical to "demonstrate to our people the power of democracies to make life better for everyone."

Biden arrives at Summit of the Americas intent on demonstrating ...

Los Angeles (CNN) President Joe Biden arrived here Wednesday to play host to nearly two dozen leaders from Latin America, hoping to use new economic and migration announcements to demonstrate cohesion in a region of fractured politics and, at times, entrenched skepticism of the United States.

His mission has been made more difficult by the decision of several leaders to boycott, including the top officials from Mexico and three Central American countries the US has worked to cultivate. They refused to attend because Biden declined to extend invitations to three autocratic leaders.

The drama over the invitation list dampened the prospect of major shows of unity. Yet Biden remained intent Wednesday on showing his commitment to a part of the world often overlooked in American foreign policy.

Biden launched the summit calling for cooperation and a renewed focus on democracy, an urgent appeal after his exclusion of autocratic leaders at the conference drew protests and boycotts.

"At a moment we need more cooperation, common purpose and transformative ideas. There's never been a greater need than today," Biden said as he opened the three-day event.

"Democracy has been a hallmark of our region," Biden went on, calling on nations to "renew our conviction that democracy is not only the defining feature of American histories" but the "essential ingredient."

He said it was now critical to "demonstrate to our people the power of democracies to make life better for everyone."

And as China makes inroads in Latin America, Biden said "we have all the tools we need right here in our own hemisphere" to provide security and economic advancement.

The President spelled out in broad terms a new economic framework that Washington hopes other countries will sign on to in the coming months. He also previewed a migration declaration that countries have agreed to that details the responsibilities of nations amid historic migrant flows.

Those are among the most serious challenges for the Western Hemisphere, and also amount to some of the most potent political liabilities for Biden as he suffers in the polls ahead of this year's midterm elections.

The President and his team had once hoped to use the summit to make major progress of those issues with players in the region. And US administration officials say they have secured participation even from countries whose leaders are refusing to attend.

"The substantive work of the summit has in no way, shape or form been touched or adjusted or reduced by the participation question," national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One as Biden was flying west. "These two things are operating in entirely distinct lanes, and we're happy to have senior level participation from each of these countries, even though the leaders each for their own reason has chosen not to come to Los Angeles."

Still, the boycott undercuts the picture of unity that might have emerged from the summit had all of the region's leaders been present.

"I think if they had to do it over again, they might have considered postponing it. But now, I think they're just going to go ahead with it, make the best of it," said John Negroponte, a former US ambassador to Mexico who has held several other high-ranking national security posts.

"This is an opportunity to put the spotlight on issues that are important to us in the hemisphere, and I'm sure the administration will have some success in doing that and I'm sure there will be useful meetings, useful conversations on a whole host of issues," he said.

It wasn't only the region's dictators who were denied invites to this week's summit. The opposition leader of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, was also left off the list, even though the United States recognizes him as the interim president. Extending an invitation to Guaidó could have further aggravated tensions with countries who still recognize the dictator Nicolás Maduro, who was among the autocrats Biden barred from participating.

Biden did speak with Guaidó by telephone as he flew to Los Angeles.

Biden's first day in California was intended to highlight American economic commitments to a region that has increasingly looked to China for investments in infrastructure. During the summit, Biden is expected to announce more than $300 million in assistance in food insecurity, in addition to other private sector commitments, as well as health initiatives and a partnership on climate resilience.

The President was planning to unveil a new economic partnership with Latin American nations, though it stops short of a full-blown trade agreement that would expand market access in ways many countries are seeking.

The "Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity" is instead a framework meant to reinvigorate regional economic institutions like the Inter-American Development Bank, make supply chains more resilient, create more clean energy jobs and ensure sustainable trade.

"The best antidote to China's inroads in the region is to ensure that we are forging our own affirmative vision for the region economically," a senior administration official told reporters. "We think that that's why it's so important that we do lay down a really ambitious, regionally updated vision."

At the same time, officials acknowledged the partnership does not amount to a trade agreement that would require approval from Congress, where protectionist sentiments have largely forestalled any new free trade agreements.

"We're not negotiating a trade agreement that would go to Congress, but rather building on existing agreements to actually promote a race to the top," a second administration official said.

In Los Angeles, Biden was expected to meet for the first time with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who was contemplating a boycott of his own before being promised a one-on-one with the American leader.

The far-right populist leader, who was a close ally of President Donald Trump, has been mostly ignored by the White House until this point. Earlier this week, he even echoed Trump by casting doubt on Biden's 2020 election victory in comments from Sao Paulo. He has also questioned the reliability of Brazil's election systems.

Sullivan said he expected the two Presidents to discuss "free, fair, transparent democratic elections" in their talks.

"There are no topics off limits in any bilateral the President does, including with President Bolsonaro," Sullivan said.

Mexico's President threatens to skip Americas summit unless US ...

Mexico City (CNN) Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador threatened to boycott next month's Summit of Americas, saying Tuesday that his participation will not be confirmed unless host country United States invites Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

"Participation in the Los Angeles Summit has not yet been resolved because we are proposing that no one is excluded because we seek the unity of all America," López Obrador said during his daily briefing in Mexico City.

"We feel that there should be no confrontation. Even with the differences, we must dialogue, all Americans, then we are yet to resolve this issue; we have a very good relationship with the government of President Biden. We want everyone to be invited. That's the position of Mexico," he added.

US officials have repeatedly said the governments of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela will not be invited to the summit due to their human rights records.

As host country, the US has the privilege of selecting leaders to be invited to the summit.

Read More

Will Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela attend Summit of Americas ...

(CNN) A growing number of countries are threatening to snub the US-hosted Summit of the Americas next month, amid controversy over its guest list.

The summit, organized this year by US President Joe Biden's administration, was intended to convene leaders from across the Americas in Los Angeles to discuss common policy issues. As host country, the United States has the right to draw up its guest list.

In April, US Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols told reporters that authoritarian Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela were unlikely to be invited. The high-level conference would instead focus on the Western Hemisphere's democracies, Nichols said.

While White House officials emphasize that the guest list is not yet finalized, even democratically elected leaders in the region are now warning that they won't attend the summit if not all countries are invited.

Notably, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of neighboring Mexico has said that if other countries in the Americas are excluded, he would stay home in solidarity. "If they're excluded, if not all are invited, a representative from the Mexican government would go, but I wouldn't," Lopez Obrador said during his regular news conference last Tuesday.

Read More


'Jurassic World: Dominion' review: The old and new DNA come ...

CNN —

There’s something unfortunately symbolic about “Jurassic World: Dominion,” which combines old and new DNA from the near-three-decade-old franchise and generates a pretty mindless mess. The nostalgia factor gives the movie an initial jolt, and there are, of course, some dino-sized thrills, but not enough to lift this XL-sized mediocrity out of the gene pool’s shallow end.

Even the marketing campaign comes across as a rather conspicuous fib, billing this as the saga’s “epic conclusion,” which is questionable in terms of the first half and hard to swallow in the latter, since, like dinosaur DNA, while the blueprint might be altered, these kind of box-office attractions are too enticing to leave dormant for long.

With Colin Trevorrow back in the director’s chair (having also kicked off this trio of “Jurassic World” movies) and sharing script credit with Emily Carmichael, the story brings back Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, picking up where “Fallen Kingdom” left off in terms of their oversight of Maisie (Isabella Sermon), now a restless teenager.

Yet the emotional core comes from reuniting the stars of the 1993 original – Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum – with the years having been kind to them, even if the writing hasn’t.

Indeed, the convoluted plot operates on parallel tracks that only gradually begin to intersect, with giant prehistoric locusts sweeping across the land, creating an existential threat to the food chain. All signs rather transparently point to a classic corporate villain, Biosyn Genetics, whose bespectacled CEO (Campbell Scott) seems to have been unceremoniously plucked from one of the later Bond movies.

“Jurassic Park” (both Michael Crichton’s book and the movie) contained an underlying “Don’t fool with Mother Nature” warning, and “Dominion” overtly incorporates what anyone paying attention will recognize as an environmental message.

Chris Pratt and a Parasaurolophus in 'Jurassic World: Dominion.' Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment

Still, any more serious themes and ideas are overshadowed not just by the size of the supporting characters, but the absurdity necessary to eventually assemble everyone in the same place. As for some of the nail-biting escapes, let’s just say checking one’s brain at the door, reptilian or otherwise, certainly helps.

The two existing groups pick up a few key additions, perhaps most significantly DeWanda Wise (Netflix’s “She’s Gotta Have It”) as a fearless pilot somewhat reluctantly drawn into the adventure. But other than a kinetic chase with Pratt keeping his motorcycle one step ahead of rampaging raptors, the action proves too scattered and repetitive to deliver much sense of jeopardy, despite the customary technical wizardry at work.

The most pleasing elements thus reside in the occasional quieter moments, from unexpected interactions to snippets of John Williams’ original theme to Goldblum’s chaos-theory-spouting Ian Malcolm’s “Life finds a way” snideness, reminding those around him that what they’re doing is dangerous and stupid. He’s right, but to the extent that the second critique often applies to the script, his admonitions come with a heavy side of irony.

Given that this is the sixth “Jurassic” movie – with a 14-year gap in the middle – it’s not like Universal Pictures has thoroughly exhausted the title (although there have been other offshoots, such as an animated series). Based on past performance, it’s hard to see “Dominion” as the end of anything, particularly if the movie can tap into the renewed jet-propelled life that movie-going is exhibiting this summer, currently fueled by another sequel.

Like many a monstrosity concocted in the lab, “Jurassic World: Dominion” falls short of its potential, which doesn’t mean it won’t be a success. Because just as life finds a way, when it comes to a title with this level of built-in name recognition, sequels somehow find a way, too.

“Jurassic World: Dominion” premieres June 10 in US theaters. It’s rated PG-13.

Summer movies in Columbus: New releases, classic film series

Peter Tonguette

Special to The Columbus Dispatch

During the summertime, many of us head outdoors to pools, parks or campgrounds. Others, though, find it the perfect time of year to head inside and go back to the movies.

This summer, Greater Columbus multiplexes will be chock-full of potential blockbusters, including the long-delayed sequel to “Top Gun,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” a thrilling new installment in the “Jurassic Park” franchise, “Jurassic World Dominion,” and the latest episode in the ever-unfolding Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Thor: Love and Thunder.”

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For audiences whose taste in film runs toward the classics, the CAPA Summer Movie Series will return to the Ohio Theatre, and for those who want to catch a great flick and feel the summer breeze, checking out one of numerous outdoor film series may be the best bet.

Blockbusters opening at theaters throughout Greater Columbus

• “Top Gun: Maverick,” May 27: Nearly four decades since the original film — not to mention three full years since the sequel was first scheduled for release — the long-anticipated “Top Gun: Maverick” will make its way to multiplexes. Tom Cruise resumes his role of Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, joined by Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly and Jon Hamm.

• “Jurassic World Dominion,” June 10: In the latest movie in the series that kicked off with Steven Spielberg’s 1993 blockbuster “Jurassic Park,” dinosaurs and people commingle on the Earth — and the cast of the original “Jurassic Park” films (including Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum) is blended with the cast of the more recent “Jurassic World” films (including Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard).

• “Lightyear,” June 17: You thought that the saga of Buzz Lightyear wrapped up with “Toy Story 4.” Not so fast: The new computer-animated family film features the voice of Chris Evans as the “real” (not the toy) Buzz Lightyear. Also contributing vocal performances are Uzo Aduba, Peter Sohn and Keke Palmer.

• “Elvis,” June 24: Previous actors to play the King of Rock ’n’ Roll include Kurt Russell and Bruce Campbell. Now, in director Baz Luhrmann’s new biopic, up-and-coming actor Austin Butler — known for his supporting turn in “Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood” — will take on the role. Tom Hanks appears as Elvis’ manager and all-around guru, Colonel Tom Parker.

• “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” July 1: The miniscule yellow life forms are back in the computer-animated sequel. Vocal talent featured include Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin and Taraji P. Henson.

• “Thor: Love and Thunder,” July 8: As the Marvel Cinematic Universe rolls on . . . and on . . . .and on, Chris Hemsworth returns to the title role of the Norse god superhero. Incarnating other superhuman figures are Tessa Thompson, as Valkyrie; Natalie Portman, as Jane Foster/Mighty Thor; and Christian Bale, as Gorr the God Butcher.

• “DC League of Super-Pets,” July 29: The DC Comics universe of films will go to the dogs (and other animals) with this computer-animated feature boasting a menagerie of superhero pets, including Krypto the Superdog (voiced by Dwayne Johnson), Ace the Bat-Hound (Kevin Hart) and PB, a potbellied pig belonging to Wonder Woman (Vanessa Bayer).

• “Salem’s Lot,” Sept. 9: To usher in the autumn, “It Chapter Two” screenwriter Gary Dauberman writes and directs a fresh adaptation of Stephen King’s vampire novel. Lewis Pullman, Alfre Woodard and William Sadler star in the horror film reboot.

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Summer movie series venues

Many of the screenings take place outdoors starting at sunset.

John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons

East Rich and South High streets

• Free movie nights, 8:15 p.m. select days in May, June and July: The Commons will be the site of showings of the movies “Encanto” (May 28), “Frozen 2” (June 11), “The Lion King” (June 24) and “Sing 2” (July 22).

Contact: www.columbuscommons.org

Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

4850 Powell Road, Delaware County

• “Zoombezi Bay Summer Nights,” 5-10 p.m. Fridays in July: Zoombezi Bay will keep its gates open late to host live entertainment as well as movie screenings at 8 p.m. The family-friendly lineup of flicks includes “The Incredibles 2” (July 1), “Iron Man 2” (July 8), “Sing 2” (July 15), “The Santa Clause 2” (July 22) and “Frozen 2” (July 29).

Contact: www.columbuszoo.org

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Genoa Park

303 W. Broad St., Downtown

• 21+ Outdoor Movie Series, at sunset on select Thursdays from June-October: The park will host screenings for a mature crowd. Most films are rated R, and highlights include “The Big Lebowski” (June 2), “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” (July 28) and “Remember the Titans” (Aug. 25). Food trucks will be on-site, and wine will be for sale.

Contact: www.nightlight614.com

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Hinson Amphitheater

170 W. Dublin-Granville Road, New Albany

• “Family Flick Nights,” 7:30 p.m. select Tuesdays in June, July and August: The family-friendly movies “A Bug’s Life” (June 28), “Monsters, Inc.” (July 26) and “Finding Nemo” (Aug. 16) will be shown at the amphitheater.

Contact: www.newalbanyfoundation.org

Goodale Park

120 W. Goodale St., Victorian Village

• “Screen on the Green,” at sunset on select Fridays in July, August and September: Outdoor screenings of the movies “Labyrinth” (July 15), “Moulin Rouge” (Aug. 19) and “Coco” (Sept. 16) will take place on the softball field.

Contact: www.shortnorthcivic.org

Easton Town Center

160 Easton Town Center

• “Movies by Moonlight,” Tuesdays in June: The shopping complex will be the site of four outdoor film screenings: “Encanto” (June 7), “Inside Out” (June 14), “Trolls World Tour” (June 21) and “The Wizard of Oz” (June 28).

Ohio Theatre

39 E. State St., Downtown

• CAPA Summer Movie Series, June 16-Aug. 4: Following two summers with shortened schedules, the classic film series returns for nine weeks and some 25 feature films, including the opening weekend lineup of the Robin Williams-Nathan Lane comedy “The Birdcage” (June 16) and Francis Ford Coppola’s mafia masterpiece “The Godfather” (June 17-19). Other films include “Airplane!” (June 23-24), “My Fair Lady” (June 25-26), “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope” (July 8-9), Alfred Hitchcock’s “Notorious” (July 30-31) and “The Wrong Man” Aug. 11-12) and the Michael Keaton version of “Batman” (Aug. 5-6). Two programs of Saturday morning cartoon capers will take place on June 25 and July 30.

Contact: www.capa.com

South Drive-In

3050 S. HIGH ST.

• Screenings throughout the summer and into the fall: The summer movie season’s biggest new releases are sure to turn up at this drive-in landmark in southwestern Columbus.

Contact: www.drive-inmovies.com

Upper Arlington Parks system

• “Movies in the Parks”: Assorted parks in the community will host outdoor movie screenings through August, including “Free Willy” at Thompson Park, 2020 McCoy Road (June 24) and “Raya and the Last Dragon,” Sunny 95 Park, 4395 Carriage Hill Lane (July 8).

Contact: www.upperarlingtonoh.gov

Wexner Center for the Arts

1871 N. High St., OSU campus

• “Federico Fellini,” July 7-Aug. 18: The arts center on the campus of Ohio State University will mark the centennial of Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini (1920-1993) two years after the fact: This major retrospective of Fellini’s much-admired films — including masterpieces succh as “La strada” (July 7), “8 1/2” (July 14) and “Juliet of the Spirits” (Aug. 4) — was originally slated for 2020, when Fellini would have turned 100, but was delayed due to the pandemic.

Contact: www.wexarts.org

'Jurassic World Dominion' overtakes 'Top Gun: Maverick' at box office

Lindsay Bahr

The Associated Press

Move over, Maverick: The dinosaurs have arrived to claim their throne.

“Jurassic World Dominion” took a mighty bite out of the box office with $143.4 million in North American ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. Including earnings from international showings — the film opened in various markets last weekend — “Jurassic World Dominion,” released globally by Universal Pictures, has already grossed $389 million. And it’s just getting started.

“We couldn’t be happier,” says Jim Orr, Universal’s head of domestic distribution. “‘Jurassic World Dominion’ had a very broad and ridiculously enthusiastic audience.”

The hefty haul is yet another sign that the box office is continuing to rebound this summer. With the blockbuster successes of films like “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and now “Jurassic World 3,” audiences are coming back to movie theaters more consistently.

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The film, which had a reported $185 million price tag not accounting for marketing and promotion costs, opened on 4,676 screens in the U.S. and Canada, starting with preview showings Thursday. Audiences were 56% male and 54% over the age of 25, according to Universal.

Critics were not kind to the dino extravaganza, but audiences seem to be enjoying themselves, based on exit polls. Moviegoers gave it an A- CinemaScore and an 81% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, suggesting that word of mouth will be strong in the coming weeks.

“You want to see dinosaurs on the big screen, it doesn’t matter what critics thought,” says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore.

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And many moviegoers did opt for the biggest screens possible. Globally, IMAX showings of “Jurassic World Dominion” represented $25 million of the total. The 3D format also accounted for around 25% of worldwide ticket sales.

“The appetite for the colossal creatures in this franchise is still voracious, and the way audiences want to experience this movie is in 3D,” says Travis Reid, CEO and president of Cinema for RealD, in a statement.

Both “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Jurassic World Dominion” are an important caveat for an industry that continues to learn new lessons about pandemic-era moviegoing every week. Although both films are legacy sequels, neither are of the superhero variety, which, for a long time, had seemed like the only pandemic-proof genre.

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“Top Gun: Maverick” is still coasting in rarefied skies, too: It fell only 44% in its third weekend with an estimated $50 million to take second place, bringing its North American total north of $393.3 million. “Doctor Strange 2,” in its sixth weekend, was a distant third with $4.9 million.

This weekend is only the third of the pandemic era in which the total domestic box office surpassed $200 million, according to box office tracker Comscore. The others were “Spider Man: No Way Home,” in December, and “Doctor Strange 2,” in May. But this is the first time there has been space for two movies to do well.

“Pretty much all the big blockbuster weekends that we’ve had over the pandemic have been dominated by one movie,” Dergarabedian says. “In this case, we have two big blockbusters in theaters at once. This is the recipe for success that theater owners have been waiting for over the course of the pandemic. It’s an important milestone.”

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“Dominion” is the third film in the “Jurassic World” trilogy, which began in 2015 and introduced characters played by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. The newest installment brings back actors Laura Dern, Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum from Steven Spielberg’s 1993 “Jurassic Park.”

Colin Trevorrow, who stewarded the “World” trilogy and directed the first film, returned to direct “Dominion,” in which dinosaurs are no longer contained and locusts are threatening the world’s food supply.

The filmmakers have said “Dominion” is intended to be the last of the “Jurassic World” films, which have been enormously profitable with more than $3 billion in ticket sales. The first earned more than $1.7 billion globally alone. Including the original “Jurassic Park” trilogy, that number skyrockets to $5 billion.

“This is a tremendous start to our summer,” Orr says.

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New York CNN Business —

“Jurassic World: Dominion,” the latest film in the Jurassic Park franchise, stomps into theaters this weekend. The sixth film in the dinosaurs-run-amok series could be one of the biggest of the summer — if not the entire year.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Jurassic Park franchise has been one of the most popular brands in Hollywood since the 1993 original, notching roughly $5 billion at the global box office.

But which film has had the most deafening roar at the ticket booth?

Here’s a list of the franchise’s biggest blockbusters at the domestic box office, adjusted for inflation, according to Comscore (SCOR).

5. Jurassic Park III

"Jurassic Park III" couldn't live up to the success of its two predecessors. Universal Pictures/Moviepix/Getty Images

Year: 2001

Box office haul: $181.1 million

Adjusted for inflation: $293.7 million

Despite the return of Sam Neill’s Dr. Alan Grant (and a cameo from Laura Dern’s Dr. Ellie Sattler), “Jurassic Park III” couldn’t live up to the box office success of its two predecessors.

Why not? For starters, this was the first film in the franchise that wasn’t directed by Steven Spielberg, and it wasn’t based on a Michael Crichton best seller, either.

The film, in which Grant returns to the dinosaur island to save a lost boy, also received bad reviews notching a 48% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Even so, it still managed to come in at No. 7 at the North America box office that year.

4. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

"Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" may have had the worst review score of the series, but was still a hit. Universal Pictures/Moviestore/Shutterstock

Year: 2018

Box office haul: $417.9 million

Adjusted for inflation: $420.2 million

“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” may have the lowest review score of the entire series (47% on Rotten Tomatoes), but that didn’t stop audiences from lining up. It was the fourth highest-grossing film of 2018.

It had the benefit of coming after 2015’s “Jurassic World,” one of the biggest blockbusters of all time. Also, it starred Chris Pratt, who was arguably hitting his zenith as a movie star in both the Jurassic World and Marvel franchises in the same year.

“Fallen Kingdom,” in which Pratt and co-star Bryce Dallas Howard save dinosaurs from an active volcano, is the second film in the series to make over $1 billion worldwide.

3. The Lost World: Jurassic Park

"The Lost World: Jurassic Park" had a record opening at the time of its release. Universal/Amblin/Kobal/Shutterstock

Year: 1997

Box office haul: $229 million

Adjusted for inflation: $457.1 million

It’s hard to overstate just how much anticipation swirled around “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” when it opened in 1997. The film, the franchise’s first sequel, brought back Jeff Goldblum’s Dr. Ian Malcolm, and was simply everywhere from Burger King to comic books. It even had its own cereal, “Jurassic Park Crunch,” whose cereal shapes were meant to resemble dinosaur footprints.

But the film was a letdown with critics, garnering lackluster reviews and it failed live up to the original “Jurassic Park.” Still, it was a huge hit, opening to $72 million in North America — a record at the time.

2. Jurassic World

"Jurassic World" rebooted the franchise to massive success at the box office. Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment via AP

Year: 2015

Box office haul: $654.1 million

Adjusted for inflation: $710.7 million

“Jurassic World” may have had the hardest task of all the films in the series: rebooting the franchise for a new generation of fans. It pulled it off.

The film, which imagined what Jurassic Park would look like if the theme park was operational, had a potent mixture for blockbuster success. Pratt, its star, was coming off the very popular Marvel film “Guardians of the Galaxy” and audiences were ready to embrace the nostalgia from the original film.

The film opened to a then-record $208 million in North America before going on to be the seventh highest-grossing film of all time with a $1.6 billion box office haul.

1. Jurassic Park

"Jurassic Park" is one of the biggest blockbusters of all time. Universal Pictures/Murray Close/Moviepix/Getty Images

Year: 1993

Box office haul: $350.8 million

Adjusted for inflation: $776.2 million

There are blockbusters, and then there’s “Jurassic Park.”

The original 1993 film directed by Steven Spielberg changed cinema thanks to its use of special effects. But “Jurassic Park” is far more than CGI dinosaurs tearing up a theme park and terrifying the humans there. It’s a cinematic classic with nonstop thrills, wonder and even heart.

This is what made the film the highest-grossing film ever at the time. The film’s stature has only grown since, creating a new franchise that continues to dominate the box office today.

'Jurassic World: Dominion' looks to roar at the box office with the ...

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New York CNN Business —

An adventure 65 million years in the making comes to a conclusion this weekend when “Jurassic World: Dominion” stomps into theaters.

The Universal film explores a world in which dinosaurs are not just running amok on a remote island, but all over Earth. That concept — alongside a brand that has raked in about $5 billion worldwide over five films — could be enough to pull viewers into theaters.

But dinosaurs and name recognition aren’t the only things “Dominion” has working for it.

“Dominion” brings back the three stars from the original “Jurassic Park,” Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, alongside the younger characters of the series played by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.

If the cast from the original — one of the highest-grossing films of all time — wasn’t enough, “Dominion” is also billed as the final movie of “the Jurassic era.”

The film is expected to take in roughly $125 million domestically in North America this weekend, and has already made more than $55 million overseas after opening internationally last week. It notched $18 million domestically in preview screenings on Thursday night.

“What has always made the Jurassic films special is the age-old trope: man vs beast,” Jeff Bock, senior analyst at entertainment research firm Exhibitor Relations, told CNN Business. “It’s a horror film. It’s an adventure film. It’s an action film. It’s a drama. It’s an existential comedy at times. It’s all the things.”

And it’s yet another film that’s banking on nostalgia to bring in older moviegoers — an important demographic that has been mostly absent from theaters since the pandemic’s onset.

“You’re really trying to get everybody”

"Jurassic World: Dominion" is trying to break the box office this weekend. Universal Pictures

Not many films have changed the course of cinema. “Jurassic Park” did.

The 1993 film directed by Steven Spielberg transformed the movie industry with its unprecedented use of special effects. Its impact — much like the film’s famous scene where reverberations in a glass of water signal the potentially deadly approach of a T-Rex — are still felt today.

So bringing back the cast from that film is a smart box office strategy for Universal.

But “Dominion” isn’t trying to specifically reach those over the age of 35 who watched the first film in theaters.

“With the movie of this size, you’re really trying to get everybody,” according to Michael Moses, the chief marketing officer for Universal Pictures. “It is at once both meant to attract audiences who have been with us from the very beginning, but also ones who joined along the way.”

And having the legacy cast members join in the adventure is not just a gimmick to pull in an older audience.

“They’re not in the movie as window dressing or in a single scene. They are actually fully integrated into the narrative of the movie,” Moses said. “It really is trying to honor the entirety of the franchise.

That said, reaching out to an older audience has been a successful move at the box office lately.

Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” another film built on nostalgia from a film made decades ago, broke records when it opened over Memorial Day. The film’s numbers were boosted largely thanks to moviegoers over 35, who represented 55% of the US total that weekend.

“‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ is not only trying to bridge the gap between trilogies, but also between demographics,” Bock said. “The hope here is that the same audiences that have returned to theaters for perhaps the first time since the pandemic began with ‘Top Gun’ are now ready to frequent theaters on a more regular basis.”

The end of the Jurassic era… maybe

The film is hoping that bringing back the original cast of "Jurassic Park" could boost ticket sales. Universal Pictures

There is one menace, however, that “Dominion” still faces: it could get eaten alive by bad reviews. The film currently has a 34% score on Rotten Tomatoes — the worst score in the series.

“The nostalgia factor gives the movie an initial jolt, and there are, of course, some dino-sized thrills, but not enough to lift this XL-sized mediocrity out of the gene pool’s shallow end,” Brian Lowry, CNN’s media critic, wrote in his review.

Then again, only two films in the series have had positive review scores on Rotten Tomatoes (the 1993 original and 2015’s “Jurassic World”), and that hasn’t stopped the series from selling tickets.

So a film like “Dominion” may be review-proof — this weekend, at least — especially if audiences want to get one last glimpse at the series.

Because if this really, really is the end of the Jurassic series (don’t forget, the 9-film “Fast & Furious” franchise has been doing “one last ride” over multiple films) the films’ legacy will be its status as a pop culture touchstone as well as a huge moneymaker.

“When you picture a dinosaur, or when you imagine what a dinosaur sounds like, it’s almost certain that that memory is formed by the Jurassic movies more than anything else,” Moses said. “And so, that’s a very powerful thing to reach that kind of cultural status beyond just a cinematic moment.”

'Jurassic World Dominion' review: Best since first 'Jurassic Park'

After so many “Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic World” movies spent trying to keep dinosaurs isolated in poorly executed high-tech sanctuaries, it’s nice to see a thunder lizard drop by a drive-in movie theater for a bite.

Director Colin Trevorrow’s “Jurassic World Dominion” (★★★ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters now) is a globe-trotting action adventure that awesomely imagines a world having to come to grips with rampaging dinos big and small living among humans – at least until the movie shifts its focus to yet another sanctuary full of cloned creatures, another shady tech company and another climactic primal showdown.

Although overly familiar, “Dominion” boasts everything you’d ever want in a “Jurassic” film and is the best in the series since the original 1993 movie. (That said, apart from Steven Spielberg's wondrous opener, this is not exactly a high bar.) The plot brings together the original “Park” heroes – a joy to meet again – and the newer “World” crew to essentially wrap up the current trilogy and the franchise so far.

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All those warnings in the first “Jurassic Park” about playing with science come to fruition at the beginning of “Dominion,” which deftly uses an internet video to show how life on Earth has been affected by an influx of dinosaurs.

The new film picks up four years after the beasts escaped the destruction of Isla Nublar (see: 2018’s “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom"), and returning characters Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) are now a couple living in the Sierra Nevada as adoptive parents to Maisie (Isabella Sermon), the clone girl who released the dinos into the wild in the previous film. Much to her tween angst, the adults keep her hidden away from people who’d want to capture her for scientific purposes, but she gets kidnapped anyway alongside Beta, the spawn of Owen’s Velociraptor pal Blue.

Meanwhile, evolved dino-locusts are doing a number on crops in the Midwest. Fearing a worldwide famine on the horizon, paleobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) reaches out to old paleontologist friend – and fellow OG Jurassic Park survivor – Alan Grant (Sam Neill) for help. During their investigation, they get an invite to the remote Italian mountain headquarters of Biosyn Genetics, where dinos from all over the world are taken. Mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) is the in-house philosopher, and he gives Ellie and Alan the lowdown on the corporation and the morally and ethically questionable practices of its CEO (Campbell Scott).

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It takes a while, but the parallel story lines in Trevorrow and Emily Carmichael’s screenplay do come together for a “Jurassic” super team-up that’s pretty nifty to see, especially the long-awaited reunion between Dern and Neill’s characters. The coolest new character joining the bunch is Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise), a cargo pilot – and fun, swagger-filled twist on the Indiana Jones/Han Solo archetype – who helps Owen and Claire on their rescue mission. If the next trilogy ends up being “Jurassic Space,” let’s hope she’s at the wheel.

If you come to the “Jurassic” movies for the dinos (and let’s face it, that’s a lot of folks), there are plenty of species to be had – 27, in fact. The T. rex is back, naturally, although it gets a large new foe on the block with the debuting Giganotosaurus. Atrociraptors are used as precision killing machines in a spectacular motorcycle chase scene set in Malta – think something out of “Mission: Impossible,” but replacing Tom Cruise with speedy reptiles – and a winged Quetzalcoatlus does a number on Kayla’s plane. The creature effects are all top notch, especially the eerie mega-locust swarms.

Other than a T. rex getting loose in San Diego for a little while in the second “Jurassic Park,” the franchise hasn’t really leaned into dinos wrecking stuff in the real world – and mankind being thrown by having to share the Earth – so those moments early on in “Dominion” feel inventive. Yet the science veers pretty wonky and, while still mostly exciting, the film tends back toward the romping-and-stomping template we’ve seen previously.

In that vein, the new “Jurassic World” is more “Return of the Jedi” than “Empire Strikes Back,” giving fans a comfort-food finale that plays a few fresh numbers, but mainly sticks to the hits.

'Jurassic World: Dominion' roars to big opening weekend at the box ...

New York (CNN Business) The end of the Jurassic era arrived with a deafening roar at the box office.

The opening for "Dominion" roughly falls in line with the debut of the prior film in the series, "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom," which opened to $148 million in 2018. That's impressive considering how different the box office marketplace is compared to just five years ago.

Another impressive feat is that the film found an audience despite some pretty awful reviews . "Dominion" notched the lowest critics score of the series on review site Rotten Tomatoes, bringing in a 30% rating.

The big weekend adds to the film's worldwide haul of $389 million since opening overseas last week.

'Jurassic World Dominion' spoilers: Why the T. rex is an unsung hero

Spoiler alert: The following post discusses the end of "Jurassic World" (and some past "Jurassic" flicks), so beware if you haven't seen it yet.

The “Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic World” movies have sported some big names onscreen since 1993, from Chris Pratt and Samuel L. Jackson to Julianne Moore and Oscar winner Laura Dern.

But only one is the true unsung hero of this mega-franchise: Tyrannosaurus rex.

A mighty mawed wind beneath our wings, the T. rex has rescued people (OK, usually by accident) and saved the day quite a few times in the “Jurassic” series. It happens again in “Jurassic World Dominion,” where the original beast from the first “Jurassic Park” faces fellow carnivore Giganotosaurus for all the marbles. As the humans scramble to escape Biosyn’s exploding headquarters in the film's climax, the T. rex tag-teams with an impressively clawed Therizinosaurus to take down the huge new dino on the block.

Review:Dino delight 'Jurassic World Dominion' is the best since the first 'Jurassic Park'

While the “Jurassic” films have brought in more massive creatures every time – and even invented new hybrid species – the T. rex has always had an intriguing part to play. For kids fascinated by dinosaurs, before Steven Spielberg set them loose in theaters, there has always been something inherently cool and dangerous about the T. rex: Brontosaurus was the cute one, Triceratops had the horns, Stegosaurus sported the nifty armor plates, but the T. rex was both supremely awesome and the one you were most glad went extinct.

“Jurassic Park” presented the original female T. rex as an antagonist on Isla Nublar, chasing Dern, Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum and trying to eat them. But at the end of Spielberg's '93 blockbuster, she fights off a pack of vicious Velociraptors as part of an inadvertent rescue and stands tall as a roaring lady boss in the iconic shot where the “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth” banner comes tumbling down.

'Jurassic World Dominion':How 'Jurassic Park' stars, new 'Dominion' dinosaurs wrap up trilogy with a bang

The other “Jurassic Park” films focused on T. rexes but it wasn’t quite the same. The 1997 sequel “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” centered on a family of them with mixed results, though one adult T. rex getting loose in San Diego (it was looking for its kid so there was some reason for the rampage) and drinking out of a suburban swimming pool was a nice touch. (Let’s not talk about what happened to the family pooch.) And 2001’s “Jurassic Park III” did the T. rex dirty, as a Spinosaurus murders that one way too quickly.

Director Colin Trevorrow brought back the OG T. rex in 2015’s “Jurassic World” and presented her as a Rocky type who gets knocked down by genetically engineered big bad Indominus rex but always gets back up. She helps Owen Grady (Pratt) and park manager Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) in the main square of the theme park by teaming up with Owen’s trained Velociraptor, Blue, and getting the Indominus close to the lake so it can get eaten by a Mosasaurus. The T. rex even gives Blue a tiny nod of mutual respect before her exit.

She appears sporadically through 2018’s “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” saving Owen’s butt from a hungry Carnotaurus and telling a lion what’s what when the dinos get into the wild. But Trevorrow gave the T. rex a low-key intriguing story arc in “Dominion”: In the movie's prologue released online in November and set 65 million years ago, the T. rex is murdered by a Giganotosaurus and a mosquito drinks its blood – the same mosquito found in amber and whose dino DNA is used to clone the T. rex who later stands victorious at the end of “Dominion.”

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“You realize at the end that it's kind of a revenge picture. It's just ‘Death Wish,’ ” Trevorrow tells USA TODAY with a laugh. “I really wanted to create a moment where you weren't sure: Is this the beloved character that they're going to kill in this movie? Because it's possible. We could have done that. And I know how much that would've deeply upset a lot of people and yet playing on that emotional fear is something I'm OK doing.”

Here’s hoping the T. rex comes back like a returning champ in the next “Jurassic” trilogy. Not all heroes wear capes – some have little arms, big teeth and an unsurmountable will to survive.

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“Jurassic World: Dominion” hits theaters this weekend, and it features one of the most successful movie stars in Hollywood today: Chris Pratt.

Pratt — who plays dinosaur handler Owen Grady — has transformed himself from an actor best known for playing chubby goofballs into a ripped and bankable action star who leads two major franchises. His film work, which include lead roles in the Jurassic World and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy series, have notched more than $11.6 billion at the global box office, according to Comscore (SCOR).

Pratt got his break in Hollywood in 2009 as lovable doofus Andy Dwyer on the NBC sitcom, “Parks and Recreation.” After playing supporting roles in films such as “Moneyball” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” Pratt had a massive year at the cineplex in 2014.

The actor starred as the voice of Emmet Brickowski in “The Lego Movie,” an animated film set in the world of Legos, which went on to make $469 million worldwide. Then Pratt took off as cocky space avenger Peter “Star-Lord” Quill in Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.” That film went on to make $773.3 million globally and changed the trajectory of Pratt’s career.

But that role almost didn’t happen. Pratt was overweight and mainly played comedic roles, and James Gunn — the director of “Guardians” — didn’t even want to see him audition.

“I thought it was an insane idea to cast the fat guy from ‘Parks and Rec’ as the lead of our superhero movie,” Gunn told GQ in 2014. He changed his mind once he met Pratt.

“I thought, ‘Well, hell, he’s overweight, but if that means we have the world’s first overweight superhero, I’m okay with it,’” Gunn added. Pratt famously lost 60 pounds in six months for the role and has been in action hero shape ever since.

And that’s a good thing, since Pratt had to believably outrun dinosaurs the next year.

“Jurassic World,” which rebooted the Jurassic Park franchise with Pratt in the leading role, went on to become one of the biggest films ever. It opened to a then record $208 million before raking in $1.6 billion worldwide and is currently the seventh highest-grossing film ever.

Pratt has since starred in hit sequels for “Jurassic” and “Guardians” as well as other Marvel movies. His last film, “The Tomorrow War,” which streamed exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, had “the best opening for an Amazon original tentpole,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Pratt has had some misses at the box office, too, such as “The Lego Movie: The Second Part” and the big-budget, sciene fiction film “Passengers.”

He’s also faced some controversy. Earlier this year, Gunn defended Pratt over the actor’s alleged association with a church that has supported gay conversion therapy, a claim Pratt denied in 2019.

Now, Pratt is set for what could be a huge year. After “Dominion” he returns as Star-Lord in Marvel’s next big film, July’s “Thor: Love and Thunder.”

“Dominion” is being sold with some nostalgia by bringing back the stars of the original 1993 “Jurassic Park” — Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum — and could prove to be the last in the series. That kind of buzz could lead to another blockbuster for Pratt.

“It’s 30 years in the making,” Pratt told NBC’s “Today” show earlier this month. “You’ve got the legacy cast coming back … Our story lines converge in a way that is very much a finale.”

– CNN’s Lisa Respers France contributed to this report.

'Jurassic World Dominion': Jeff Goldblum replies to fan's thirst tweet

LAS VEGAS – Jeff Goldblum is just being modest.

The internet heartthrob and “Jurassic Park” favorite returns along with original castmates Laura Dern, Sam Neill and BD Wong for “Jurassic World Dominion" (in theaters June 10), which premiered new footage at CinemaCon Wednesday.

Taking the stage with current franchise star Bryce Dallas Howard, Goldbum bemoaned how the “Dominion” stunts “felt more taxing” on his body than they did 30 years ago. But Howard was having none of it from the actor, who at 69, looks as youthful and fit as he did in 1993.

“I’m not taking that from you,” Howard said, pointing Goldbum to a fan tweet that reads, “Jurassic World Dominion, a movie about the original cast being hotter than ever.”

“No, I think that’s my social media interns,” Goldblum joked. “They really earned their paycheck that day. That’s what happened.”

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Teeing up the new "Dominion" footage, Goldblum credited the original film's director, Steven Spielberg, for helping create a franchise that "does what no other movie series can do. It's uniquely wondrous."

The actors explained how everyone has a "special memory" of watching one of the "Jurassic" movies.

"I remember seeing the first 'Jurassic Park' in theaters opening weekend when I was 12 years old and totally crushing on you," Howard told Goldblum, earning laughs from the audience at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

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Goldblum plans to create memories with his own family with "Dominion." The actor shares two sons with his wife, dancer Emilie Livingston: Charlie, 7, and River, 5.

Due in part to the pandemic, the boys "have never seen a movie in a movie theater," Goldbum said. "But I've already promised that this is going to be the first movie that we take them to. I can't wait."

"Dominion," which also stars Chris Pratt, is the third film in Colin Trevorrow's "Jurassic World" trilogy and finds dinosaurs living alongside humans all over the world.

The action-packed CinemaCon reel featured new footage of raptors and a T. rex, as well as a timely warning from Dern's Dr. Ellie Sattler: "If we're going to survive, what matters is what we do now."

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