Jurassic Park
Film(s)
Jurassic Park (1993)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Jurassic Park III (2001)
Jurassic World (2015)
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
Jurassic World: Dominion (2021)
Jurassic Park, later also referred to as Jurassic World, is an American science
fiction media franchise centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park
of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when Universal Pictures and Amblin
Entertainment bought the rights to the novel by Michael Crichton before it was
published. The book was successful, as was Steven Spielberg's 1993 film
adaptation. The film received a theatrical 3D re-release in 2013, and was
selected in 2018 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by
the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically
significant"
A sequel novel, The Lost World, was published in 1995,
followed by a film adaptation in 1997. Subsequent films in the series, including
Jurassic Park III (2001), are not based on the novels. Numerous video games and
comic books based on the franchise have been created since the release of the
1993 film, and several water rides have been opened at various Universal theme
parks. As of 2000, the franchise had generated $5 billion in revenue, making it
one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.[5]
The
fourth film, Jurassic World, was initially scheduled to be released in 2005, but
was delayed numerous times and was ultimately released in June 2015. It became
the first film to gross over $500 million worldwide in its opening weekend,[6]
and grossed over $1.6 billion through the course of its theatrical run, making
it the third highest-grossing film at the time. It was also the second
highest-grossing film of 2015. When adjusted for monetary inflation, Jurassic
World is the second highest-grossing film in the franchise after Jurassic Park.
Since the film's release, the franchise has continued to use the Jurassic World
name.
A fifth film, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, was
released in June 2018. The film grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide, making it
the third Jurassic film to pass the billion dollar mark. It is the third
highest-grossing film of 2018 and the 13th highest-grossing film of all time. A
sixth film, titled Jurassic World: Dominion, is scheduled to be released on June
11, 2021. Lego has produced several animated projects based on the Jurassic
World films, including a miniseries released in 2019. Netflix and DreamWorks
Animation also plan to release an animated series, Jurassic World: Camp
Cretaceous, in 2020.
Jurassic Park (1993)
John Hammond (Richard
Attenborough) is the owner of Jurassic Park, a theme park
located on Isla Nublar. When
an incident with a velociraptor results in the
death of an employee, Hammond brings in three
specialists to sign off on the
park to calm investors. The specialists,
paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill),
paleobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and chaos
theorist Ian Malcolm (Jeff
Goldblum) are surprised to see the island park's main
attraction are living,
breathing dinosaurs, created with a mixture of fossilized DNA and genetic
cross-breeding/cloning. When
lead programmer Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) shuts
down the park's power to sneak
out with samples of the dinosaur embryos to sell
to a corporate rival, the dinosaurs break free, and
the survivors are forced to
find a way to turn the power back on and make it out
alive. The film also stars
Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero, BD Wong, Ariana Richards,
Joseph Mazzello, and Samuel
L. Jackson.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Before The Lost World was published, a film adaptation
was already in
pre-production, with its release occurring in May 1997. The film was a
commercial success, breaking
many box-office records when released. The film had
mixed reviews, similar to its
predecessor in terms of characterization. Much
like the first film, The Lost World: Jurassic Park
made a number of changes to
the plot and characters from the book, replacing the
corporate rivals with an
internal power struggle and changing the roles or
characterizations of several
protagonists.
When a vacationing family
stumbles upon the dinosaurs of Isla Sorna, a secondary
island where the animals were
bred en masse and allowed to grow before being
transported to the park, Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum)
is called in by John
Hammond (Richard Attenborough) to lead a team to document the island to turn it
into a preserve, where
the animals can roam free without interference from the
outside world. Malcolm agrees
to go when he discovers his girlfriend,
paleontologist Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore) is
already on the island, while at
the same time Hammond's nephew, Peter Ludlow (Arliss
Howard), has taken over his
uncle's company and leads a team of hunters to capture
the creatures and bring
them back to a theme park in San Diego. The two groups
clash and are ultimately
forced to work together to evade the predatory
creatures and survive the second
island. The film also stars Pete Postlethwaite,
Richard Schiff, Vince Vaughn,
Vanessa Lee Chester, Peter Stormare, and a young
Camilla Belle.
Jurassic Park III (2001)[edit]
Main article: Jurassic Park
III
Joe Johnston had been interested in directing the
sequel to Jurassic Park and
approached his friend Steven Spielberg about the
project. While Spielberg wanted
to direct the first sequel, he agreed that if there
was ever a third film,
Johnston could direct.[25] Spielberg, nevertheless, stayed involved in this film
by becoming its
executive producer. Production began on August 30, 2000,[26]
with filming in California,
and the Hawaiian islands of Kauai, Oahu, and
Molokai.[27] It is the first Jurassic Park film not to
be based on a novel. The
film was a financial success but received mixed
reviews from critics.[28]
When their son goes missing
while parasailing at Isla Sorna, the Kirbys (William
H. Macy and Téa Leoni) hire
Alan Grant (Sam Neill) under false pretenses to help
them navigate the island.
Believing it to be nothing more than sight-seeing, and
that he will act as a dinosaur
guide from the safety of their plane, he is
startled to find them landing on the ground, where
they are stalked by a
Spinosaurus, which destroys their plane. As they search for the Kirbys' son, the
situation grows dire as
Velociraptors hunt their group and they must find a way
off the island. The film also
stars Alessandro Nivola, Michael Jeter, Trevor
Morgan, Mark Harelik, and Laura Dern.
The Jurassic World trilogy logo.
Jurassic World (2015)[edit]
Main article: Jurassic World
Steven Spielberg devised a
story idea for a fourth film in 2001, during
production of Jurassic Park III.[29] In 2002, William
Monahan was hired to write
the script,[30] with the film's release scheduled for
2005.[31] Monahan finished
the first draft of the script in 2003,[32] with the
film's plot revolving around
dinosaurs escaping to the mainland.[33][34][35] Sam
Neill and Richard
Attenborough were set to reprise their characters,[35][36] while Keira Knightley
was in talks for two
separate roles.[37] In 2004, John Sayles wrote two drafts
of the script.[38][39] Sayles'
first draft involved a team of Deinonychus being
trained for use in rescue missions.[40][41][42] His
second draft involved
genetically modified dinosaur-human mercenaries.[43][44] Both drafts were
scrapped. In 2006, a new
script was being worked on.[45][46][47] Laura Dern was
contacted to reprise her role,
with the film expected for release in
2008.[48][49] The film was further delayed by the
2007–08 Writers Guild of
America strike.[50] Mark Protosevich wrote two film
treatments in 2011, which
were rejected.[51] Rise of the Planet of the Apes
screenwriters Rick Jaffa and
Amanda Silver were hired in 2012 to write an early
draft of the script.[52] In
2013, Colin Trevorrow was announced as a director and
co-writer,[53][54] with
the film scheduled for release on June 12, 2015.[55]
The film was shot in
Univisium 2.00:1, and received generally positive reviews.[56]
The
film features a new park, Jurassic World, built on the remains of the
original park on Isla
Nublar.[57] The film sees the park run by Simon Masrani
(Irrfan Khan) and Masrani
Corp, and features the return of Dr. Henry Wu (BD
Wong) from the first film.[58]
Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Jake
Johnson star, while Vincent D'Onofrio portrayed the
main antagonist, Vic
Hoskins. The cast also includes Lauren Lapkus,[59] Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson,
Omar Sy, and Judy
Greer. The primary dinosaur antagonist is Indominus rex, a
genetically-modified hybrid of
Tyrannosaurus rex and several other species,
including Velociraptor, cuttlefish, tree frog, and pit
viper.[60][61]
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)[edit]
Main article: Jurassic World:
Fallen Kingdom
A sequel to Jurassic World was released on June 22,
2018.[62][63] The film was
directed by J. A. Bayona and written by Trevorrow and
Connolly,[63][64] with
Trevorrow and Spielberg as executive producers.[63] The film stars Chris Pratt,
Bryce Dallas Howard,
Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, James Cromwell,
Toby Jones, Ted Levine, BD
Wong, Isabella Sermon, and Geraldine Chaplin, with
Jeff Goldblum reprising his
role as Dr. Ian Malcolm.[65]
During early conversations on
Jurassic World, Spielberg told Trevorrow that he
was interested in having several more films made.[66]
In April 2014, Trevorrow
announced that sequels to Jurassic World had been
discussed: "We wanted to
create something that would be a little bit less
arbitrary and episodic, and
something that could potentially arc into a series
that would feel like a
complete story."[67] Trevorrow, who said he would direct the film if asked,[67]
later told Spielberg
that he would only focus on directing one film in the
series.[66] Trevorrow believed
that different directors could bring different
qualities to future films.[68] Bayona was once
considered to direct Jurassic
World, but he declined as he felt there was not enough
time for production.[69]
Filming took place from February to July 2017, in the
United Kingdom and
Hawaii.[65][70][71]
Former Jurassic World manager Claire Dearing and
Velociraptor handler Owen Grady
join a mission to rescue Isla Nublar's dinosaurs from
a volcanic eruption by
relocating them to a new island sanctuary. They discover that the mission is
part of a scheme to
sell the captured dinosaurs on the black market in order to
fund his party's genetic
research. The captured dinosaurs are brought to an
estate in northern California,
where several of the creatures are auctioned and
subsequently shipped to their new owners. A new hybrid
dinosaur, the Indoraptor,
escapes and terrorizes people at the estate before
being killed. The unsold
dinosaurs are released from the estate and into the
wilderness to save them from
a gas leak. With the dinosaurs now dispersed, the
world has entered a
Neo-Jurassic Period where humans and dinosaurs must coexist. A subplot involving
human cloning is
introduced, and the development of exploiting the dinosaurs'
abilities for militaristic
applications and other uses is re-explored.
Jurassic World: Dominion
(2021)[edit]
Main article: Jurassic World: Dominion
Jurassic World: Dominion is
scheduled for release on June 11, 2021.[72] It is
directed by Trevorrow, with a
screenplay written by him and Emily Carmichael,
based on a story by Trevorrow and Connolly. Trevorrow
and Spielberg serve as
executive producers for the film, with Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley as
producers.[73][74][75]
The film stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard,
returning from the previous
Jurassic World films. Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff
Goldblum also reprise their
characters for major roles,[76] marking the trio's
first film appearance together
since the original Jurassic Park film.[77][78] In
addition, Justice Smith,
Daniella Pineda, Jake Johnson and Omar Sy reprise their
roles from the previous two
films.[79][80] Other actors include Mamoudou
Athie,[81] DeWanda Wise,[82] Dichen Lachman, and Scott
Haze.[83][84]
Planning for the film dates to 2014.[85][64] Trevorrow
and Carmichael were
writing the script as of April 2018.[86] Trevorrow said the film would focus on
the dinosaurs that went
open source after being sold and spread around the world
in Jurassic World: Fallen
Kingdom, allowing people other than Dr. Henry Wu to
create their own
dinosaurs.[87][88][89] Trevorrow stated that the film would be
set around the world, and said
that the idea of Henry Wu being the only person
who knows how to create a dinosaur was far-fetched
"after 30 years of this
technology existing" within the films' universe.[88]
Additionally, the film
would focus on the dinosaurs that were freed at the end of Jurassic World:
Fallen
Kingdom,[87][88][89] but it would not depict dinosaurs terrorizing cities
and going to war against
humans; Trevorrow considered such ideas unrealistic.
Instead, Trevorrow was
interested in a world where "a dinosaur might run out in
front of your car on a foggy
backroad, or invade your campground looking for
food. A world where dinosaur interaction is unlikely
but possible—the same way
we watch out for bears or sharks."[90][91] Certain
scenes and ideas regarding
the integration of dinosaurs into the world were
ultimately removed from the
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom script to be saved for
the third film.[88][89]
Jurassic World: Dominion began filming in February
2020.[72] Filming locations
include Canada,[92][93] England's Pinewood
Studios,[94] Hawaii, and Malta.[95]
On March 13, 2020, production
was put on hiatus as a safety precaution due to
the COVID-19 pandemic. A decision on when to resume
production was expected
within several weeks.