Jurassic World Rebirth's Alan Grant nod gets first reaction from Sam Neill

Sam Neill said he was surprised and pleased by a reference to his Jurassic Park character Alan Grant in Jurassic World Rebirth, which names Dr. Henry Loomis as a former postdoc of Grant.

Sam Neill has responded to a small tribute to his Jurassic Park character in the film Jurassic World Rebirth. The new movie includes a line where Dr. Henry Loomis says he completed postdoctoral work under Dr. Alan Grant. Neill told Entertainment Weekly he was surprised and thought the reference was respectful. His comments came while promoting an Xfinity Super Bowl commercial that reunited him with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum. Key details: - Jurassic World Rebirth centers on a new team led by Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson), Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali), and paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey). - In the film, Henry Loomis mentions that he did postdoctoral work under Dr. Alan Grant, the character Sam Neill played in the 1993 Jurassic Park. - Sam Neill told Entertainment Weekly he was surprised by the reference and described it as respectful. - The film is set five years after Jurassic World Dominion and portrays dinosaurs as concentrated in equatorial regions while declining elsewhere. - Jurassic World Rebirth has a reported 50% score on Rotten Tomatoes, grossed nearly $870 million worldwide, and is available to stream on Peacock. Summary: The mention of Alan Grant in Jurassic World Rebirth was acknowledged by Sam Neill as a pleasant, respectful callback that links the new story to earlier films in the franchise. Undetermined at this time.