Take a walk in the Park

It’s been more than a decade since the last Jurassic Park film hit theatres. Here’s a look at the franchise’s history on the big screen:

THE BEGINNING

Before Steven Spielberg made Jurassic Park popcorn-ready in 1993, it was a popular Michael Crichton novel that ends up being the focus of a competitive bidding war.

Spielberg and Co. win the auction and the mainstream filmmaker proceeded to dress up the sci-fi thriller with early 1990s stateof-the-art special effects.

Jurassic Park was the highestgrossing picture worldwide that year and has since generated more than $1 billion US.

SUCCESS SUCCEEDS ITSELF

Almost immediately after Jurassic Park hit big at the box office, Crichton was arm-twisted into writing a followup book (The Lost World), which he begrudgingly did in 1995. The Spielberg-directed The Lost World: Jurassic Park arrived in theatres in 1997, but this time Crichton’s name is missing from the screenplay credits.

Despite below-average reviews, the movie was a smash. It set an opening weekend record of more than $72 million US, broken in 2001 by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

AND THEN ANOTHER

The third Jurassic arrived in 2001, directed by Joe Johnston, who had previously helmed Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Jumanji.

Missing are Spielberg’s deft directorial details and Crichton’s storytelling. The movie is a hodgepodge of variations on the themes of the two previous pictures as good guys and bad guys mix it up with prehistoric giants on yet another dinosaur island.