Jurassic Park III
This time, it's not just a walk in the park!
Jurassic Park III (2001)
Production
Budget
$93 000 000
Revenue
$368 780 809
Director
Scenario
Peter Buchman
Composer
Producer
Larry J. Franco
Actors
Sam Neill
Dr. Alan Grant
William H. Macy
Paul Kirby
Téa Leoni
Amanda Kirby
Alessandro Nivola
Billy Brennan
Trevor Morgan
Eric Kirby
Michael Jeter
Udesky
John Diehl
Cooper
Bruce A. Young
Nash
Short description
Jurassic Park III follows paleontologist Alan Grant, who is struggling to fund his research on raptor intelligence. He accepts a large payment from a wealthy couple, Paul and Amanda Kirby, to act as a guide on an aerial tour of Isla Sorna, the island used to breed dinosaurs. When the plane lands there, Grant realizes the Kirby's story is not what he was told, and the group is soon stranded among carnivorous dinosaurs, fighting to survive and get off the island.
Joe Johnston directed the film, the sixth feature in his directing career and the one that followed October Sky. Sam Neill returns as Dr. Alan Grant, the role he played in the first Jurassic Park film. William H. Macy and Téa Leoni play the Kirbys, with Alessandro Nivola as Billy Brennan, Trevor Morgan as Eric Kirby, and Michael Jeter as Udesky. The screenplay is credited to Peter Buchman, Jim Taylor and Alexander Payne, and Kathleen Kennedy and Larry J. Franco produced.
Released in July 2001, the film had a budget of 93 million dollars and earned about 369 million dollars worldwide, a return well above its cost. Audience ratings sit at 6 out of 10 on IMDb from roughly 368,000 votes and 6.2 out of 10 on TMDB from a much smaller base of about 8,000 votes. A critics' rating of 5.8 out of 10 from 222 reviews places it slightly below the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Filming began on August 30, 2000, without a finalized script, which was repeatedly rewritten on the fly. Work took place on the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Molokai and in California, concluding on January 20, 2001.
- Dr. Alan Grant's brown van, featuring logos of the Museum of Geology and Paleontology (The Museum of Rockies) and Montana State University, is a complete replica of paleontologist James Horner’s vehicle, the scientific consultant for three 'Jurassic Park' films and the basis for this character. The search for a similar van proved to be a very laborious task and required considerable time.
- When Billy leans to the ground, you can see fake rocks around the fossils.
- The film's release was accompanied by a novelization written by American author Scott Chinchin. He later released three more standalone books related to the film's plot. The first, “Adventures in Jurassic Park: The Survivor,” told of Eric’s eight-week stay on the island before the arrival of the rescue team. The second, “Adventures in Jurassic Park: The Victim,” focused on a group of teenagers who went to the island on their own and were being rescued by Dr. Grant and Eric. The third and final book, “Adventures in Jurassic Park: The Flyers,” tells of their encounter in a Florida amusement park with flying pteranodons.
- The plane the main characters are flying on is a Hawker-Beechcraft King Air 200.
- The original script and storyboards featured the baryonyx dinosaur as the main 'villain' and primary threat to the heroes, a close relative of spinosaurus that is very similar in appearance. Baryonyx was only slightly smaller and lacked such a pronounced crest on its back.
- The scenes with the excavations were real footage shot in early summer 2001. Jack Horner led the excavations, and he and his team of paleontologists discovered remains of Tyrannosaurus and some hadrosaurs here.
- Michael Crichton, the author of the original idea for 'Jurassic Park,' spent several days in intense collaborative work with the screenwriters in a 'brainstorming' mode, trying to find a suitable plot, but left the group without finding anything satisfactory.
- Director Joe Johnston expressed a strong desire to work on a sequel to the phenomenally successful 'Jurassic Park' (1993), but Steven Spielberg did not yield from his intention to produce it himself, promising him in return the director's chair for the third film.
- The vehicles shown in the film: GMC HM-Series — a truck stuck in the water; Eric's temporary shelter; FMC AAVP7A1 (RAM/RS) — a military armored vehicle appearing at the end of the film; Oldsmobile Intrigue — Alan Grant's sedan; Chevrolet Blazer — an SUV at the excavation site; Chevrolet Suburban — an SUV at the abandoned laboratory; Chevrolet Corsica — a sedan at the excavation site; Ford F-250 — a pickup truck Grant drives to the excavation site; Ford Explorer — a vehicle at the abandoned laboratory; Honda Fourtrax Rancher — an ATV at the excavation site; Honda Rubicon Foreman 500 — an ATV at the excavation site; Hummer — an SUV at the abandoned airfield; Toyota Land Cruiser — an SUV at the abandoned laboratory.
- Sam Neill stipulated in his contract that the film's premiere in Australia and Oceania should take place in his hometown of Dunedin, New Zealand.
- When the plane flies over Sorn Island, telephone wires can be seen on the mountain.
- The character of John Dill is partially based on the character of the same name from the game “Dino Crisis” (1999).
- The film received predominantly mixed reviews. According to data from 2001, only 49% of viewers said it was the best film.
- The role of the Einhorn 20mm weapon used by the mercenaries is 'played' by the Barrett M82A2 Bullpup sniper rifle. This rifle was developed for the US military but was never adopted.
- The main working version of the script revolved around a flying pteranodon that had escaped from the second island, causing a series of mysterious killings on the mainland. Dr. Alan Grant, along with a number of other characters, including the wealthy businessman Paul Robie, his 12-year-old son Miles, Billy Brennan, naturalist Simone, and a tough military expert, took on the investigation. Grant’s group traced the pterosaur’s path all the way back to the island and crashed there, while a parallel investigation unfolded on the mainland. Sets, costumes, and other props had already been made, but five weeks before the planned start of filming, director Joe Johnston completely rejected this script, preferring the 'rescue mission' idea proposed by David Koepp.
- The film includes many scenes and episodes that were planned for the first two films but were not filmed due to budgetary constraints.
- The events of the second and third films take place on Sorn Island, but the landscape in the films is different. In the third part, the events take place in the northern region, where jungles grow, not coniferous forests.
- Director Joe Johnston told Steven Spielberg that he wanted to adapt the third Jurassic Park film. Because Spielberg was busy with other projects, he allowed Johnston to direct the third installment. Steven Spielberg himself served as an executive producer of the film.
- The role of Cooper could have gone to Stellan Skarsgård, Steve Buscemi, and Tony Shalhoub.
- When Ellie talks to Alan, she mentions getting quotes from Jack Horner for her book. Jack Horner is a paleontologist who inspired Michael Crichton's creation of Alan Grant. He also served as a consultant on all three films in the series.
- This is the second film in the series to kill an actor from the TV series «Miami Vice» (1984-1990). In the first film, Martin Ferrero (Izzy Moreno) was killed by a Tyrannosaurus, and in the third film, John Diel (Detective Larry Zito) was eaten by a Spinosaurus in a scene where the heroes are trying to take off.
- The weapons shown in the film: "Einhorn 20mm" (Barrett M82A2) — used by mercenary Cooper during the test and during the first encounter with the Spinosaurus; Heckler & Koch SL8-1 — Nash's weapon; Steyr AUG — Judeski's assault rifle; M16A2 — used by U.S. Army infantry at the end of the film; Heckler & Koch USP — lies in the holster of Judeski's body armor; Mossberg 500 "Cruiser" — Nash's shotgun on his back; Orion Flare Gun — Grant uses it to ignite the fuel spilled on the water surface.
- The animatronic Spinosaurus model was the largest one created at the time. It weighed 12 tons and was fully hydraulically controlled, allowing it to be operated completely submerged in water.
- In the film, Spinosaurus was presented as larger and stronger than Tyrannosaurus: in a scene where the two predators clash, Spinosaurus emerges victorious, breaking the Tyrannosaurus's neck. In reality, such a clash could not have occurred due to the fact that both dinosaurs represented different continents and lived at different times, but the filmmakers decided to gather the dinosaurs on one island and “test their strength.” Presumably, the authors of the film decided that the image of the Tyrannosaurus as the “main villain” was outdated, and they chose Spinosaurus to replace it – due to its peculiar and menacing appearance, as well as its colossal size.
- When Nash takes the phone from Paul Kirby, a shotgun is behind him, and when he falls to the ground he has a rifle on his back, and only then does the shotgun appear.
- Despite the fact that composer John Williams did not participate in creating the music for the third film in the trilogy, his main theme can be heard at the end of the film.
- Jeff Goldblum was supposed to return in the role of Dr. Ian Malcolm, but several days after filming began, he injured his leg and dropped out of the project, stating that his character didn't play such a significant role.
- Towards the end of the film, when the Spinosaurus attacks Amanda Kirby in the water and tries to grab her, actress Tea Leoni confessed that she was accidentally injured in the scene when the monster’s claws scratched her.
- Trevor Morgan, who plays Eric Kirby, previously played one of the children in another dinosaur-related film, 'Barney's Great Adventures' (1998). A clip from that film is also used in one of the scenes.
- Steven Spielberg received 20% of the film's box office revenue.
- In the very first draft of the plot conceived by Steven Spielberg, Alan Grant was to be the main character, having lived on the island for eight years, observing the dinosaur population.
- The original script included the death of Billy Brennan, but Alessandro Nivola protested this. Therefore, at the end, you can see that Billy is alive.
- Over 900 liters of oatmeal were used to depict the Spinosaurus's excrement.
- The song playing in the bar is 'Big Hat, No Cattle' performed by Randy Newman.
- On the plane, Billy talks about how his 'lucky' backpack saved him. Sarah Harding says the same thing in the second film.
- A video game with the same name was released based on the film.
- When Alan and Billy enter the bar to have dinner with the Kirby family, a 'Jurassic Park' pinball machine can be seen in the background.
- The last name of the character Yudelsky was originally Ordelsky in the initial script.
- At the end of the film, Alan Grant looks out the helicopter window at flying pteranodons—a reference to the first film, where at the end Alan also looks out the helicopter window, but sees not pteranodons, but flying pelicans.
- Some scenes were cut from the film: Udesky versus the raptor (in this scene, Udesky takes a stick and tries to hit the raptor, but is injured and falls to the ground). A scene with a striking appearance of armored ankylosaurs. Raptor versus pteranodon. The scene of Ben Hildebrand's death (raptors attack Ben, who is stuck in a tree, and Eric runs into the dark jungle). Originally, Nash was supposed to be killed by a raptor, and Spinosaurus was to eat Udesky. Raptor versus ankylosaur. A number of scenes of dialogue between Paul and Amanda Kirby about who will be Eric's guardian if they are gone were removed. Eric and Grant give raptor eggs to the raptors. A scene in Egypt where an archaeologist found a Spinosaurus tooth. A scene in the dining room where the parrot Jack says: “Nonsense!”. The battle scene between the Tyrannosaurus and Spinosaurus, where the Tyrannosaurus roars and bellows, and then receives a blow to the head from the Spinosaurus' claws (this scene can be seen in the trailer).
- The following dinosaurs were absent in the previous films: Ceratosaurus, Ankylosaurus, and Corythosaurus.
- In all the films, the skin color of the Velociraptors changed: in the first film – a dark gray hue; in the second – a white hue with orange spots; in the third – dark purple (in males) and black-gray (in the female leader) color.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
