Though it only recently landed a director and has yet to fill out its cast, Jurassic Park 4 is still planned to hit theaters next summer.  Safety Not Guaranteed helmer Colin Trevorrow was tapped to direct the sequel last month, and Steven Spielberg is onboard to produce alongside Frank Marshall.  We know that Trevorrow will shoot in 3D and the film has a script by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) that includes a new dinosaur, but other than that story details have been kept firmly under wraps.

Will we see the return of original characters?  Is there a new park?  Just how big can the dino droppings get?  These questions have yet to be answered, but it appears that Trevorrow has just offered a major hint regarding the pic’s story, as he shared an image today from a location scout with the caption “Nublar,” which as we all know is the name of the island from the first Jurassic Park.  Hit the jump for more.

Universal Pictures just announced that Jurassic Park IV will open in 3D on June 13, 2014.  While many are quick to speculate that Steven Spielberg will direct, having just shelved the  sci-fi adaptation Robopocalypse for an indefinite period of time, no director is attached as of yet.  Spielberg will return as a producer, however.  Screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, both of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, just turned in a fresh draft of the film earlier this week.  For those of you keeping score at home, that gives Universal less than 18 months to do all the pre-production, shooting and post-production visual effects (these are dinosaurs in 3D after all).  You can get a glimpse at what the original Jurassic Park looks like in 3D when it opens on April 5th, including a one-week IMAX run.  Hit the jump for more on Jurassic Park IV.

Back in 2008, producer Kathleen Kennedy was pessimistic about the status of the Jurassic Park franchise:

“You know, when [Jurassic Park author Michael] Crichton passed away, I sorta felt maybe that’s it. Maybe that’s a sign that we don’t mess with it.”

Jurassic star Sam Neill agrees, citing the death of creature design guru Stan Winston alongside Chrichton when he told MTV in a recent interview, “I think we’ve told the story. I think it’s done.”

It’s a nice thought, but the franchise is about as likely to remain dormant as the dinosaurs within.  Jurassic Park III director Joe Johnston went so far as to tease “the beginning of the second Jurassic Park trilogy” last year, but that’s probably taking things too far the other way.  Heat Vision hears Universal and Steven Spielberg are absolutely thinking about Jurassic Park 4, that Spielberg is brainstorming with Mark Protosevich (Thor) how to reboot the franchise.  But reps for the studio and Spielberg stress that discussions are, at this point, “purely exploratory.”  More after the jump: