Where to watch Jurassic Park (1993)

Trivia & production notes

• Michael Crichton originally conceived Jurassic Park as a screenplay in the 1980s before it became a novel, and he deliberately offered the film rights at a fixed $1.5 million price to avoid a bidding war and ensure a film would actually get made.
• Steven Spielberg learned about the Jurassic Park manuscript in May 1990 while discussing a screenplay with Crichton that would become the television series ER.
• James Cameron attempted to purchase the Jurassic Park film rights but discovered Spielberg had acquired them just hours before, and later said his version would have been much nastier, comparable to his film Aliens.
• Spielberg described Jurassic Park as an attempt to make a land-based sequel to Jaws and cited King Kong and Hatari as major inspirations for the film's approach to spectacle and man-versus-nature themes.
• Sid Sheinberg, president of Universal's parent company, approved Spielberg's request to direct Schindler's List only on the condition that Spielberg make Jurassic Park first.
• Rick Carter was hired as production designer approximately two years before filming began, and he held story meetings with Crichton during the screenplay writing process.
• Michael Crichton initially felt exhausted by the Jurassic Park material and reluctant to write the screenplay, describing his fatigue with the story and its characters before ultimately taking on the task.
• Crichton's first screenplay draft, completed in September 1990, was poorly received because it jumped too quickly to action rather than building tension like the novel, prompting him to rewrite the script in 40-page increments.
• Crichton explicitly told Spielberg he would write only a preliminary draft and that another writer would be needed to polish the characters, which surprised Spielberg since writers rarely make such an offer.
• Production designer Rick Carter made significant edits to Crichton's screenplay after his departure, introducing key elements including Hammond recruiting Grant and Sattler, and reshaping Hammond's character arc.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Jurassic Park, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.