American Pie Actor Rumored to Join JP3 Cast
Chris Klein, who played the jock in the popular teen flick American Pie and the jock in the excellent Election, may be a star in JP3, according to Harry Knowles over at AICN (as reported last week). Whether he will be playing a jock in JP3 is not known at this point. (Saw this at InGenNet. Pic from The First Unoffical Chris Klein Site)

Fan Fiction Section Now Open
I'm happy to announce that the new and improved Fan Fiction section is now open. To get everyone started, Hunter has allowed me to post her action-packed epic, "Jurassic Park - Invasion". If you have a good JP-related piece of fiction, post it there! Oh yeah, if you have a great story you posted awhile back on my old fanfic page, feel free to re-post it here.

February 6, 2000

Also, according to the same source, when a dining Sam Neill (aka Alan Grant from JP) was asked if he would be reprising his role in the third movie, he simply stated that "you'll just have to wait and see." Rumor? Fact? Decide for yourself. :)

JurassicParkExtinction.com
This was reported awhile ago so I have no idea who broke the news first, but on December 16 of last year, Universal Studios registered the above domain name. This is pretty interesting news, especially since at that date, it is unlikely that the script was complete, and even more unlikely that a definite title was decided upon. So the question is: will JP3 really be subtitled "Extinction", or is this just Universal trying to protect someone else from stealing the domain, or an attempt to throw us off track? Wait and see....

Old Rumors and Wild Speculation
Poking through my old news from my TLW page, I came across this old rumor from 1997. It's pretty funny, and hey, it might have some truth to it (you never know):

"Total Film" Magazine: "According to the sfx bods, Jurassic Park III is not that far off from going going before the camera, with Spielberg wanting the whole thing ready for New Year's Eve 1999-and special mignight first screenings just as the century turns. The new tale sees the dinos finally reclaiming what was once their planet after a new Ice Age wipes out nearly all of mankind." The article goes on to suggest that Elisabeth Shue might be a high contender for the female lead with Ian Malcolm returning.

February 5, 2000

As for James Horner, he and JP3 director Joe Johnston have worked together before on Jumanji and The Rocketeer. It would be interesting to see what Horner, who usually finds himself in the Best Score Oscar category each year with Williams, feels about filling in for the competition.

February 2, 2000

Of course, if you're at this website, you most likely know all that, and you're just looking for some news, rumors, info, pictures, and movies about the upcoming third movie. Well, you've come to the right place. A few of you might remember me from "Dan's 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park' Page", which covered the news surrounding the release of the hit second movie. I'm hoping to do the same with this movie, and I hope you'll help make this page as successful as my previous effort. If you have any bit of news about JP3, please email me at splat@nac.net. Of course, you will receive full credit for the news on my site (or complete anonymity, if you request it).

As with all my webpages, this site is a work-in-progress. If you have a suggestion about a feature you'd like to see, please email me and I'll consider it. Several sections are not yet done, including the return of the popular "Fan Fiction". I may also be looking for people to help run the site -- update the news, maintain message boards, etc. when I'm unavailable. Let me know if you're interested. Be sure to check out the two newest features of the site I'm proud of: Free Email and Web Hosting!

Below I've gathered all the news we know so far about Jurassic Park 3. While much of it is believed to be true, be aware that any of it may be false. Dan's JP3 Page tries to distinguish fact from rumors, but will publish both. Anyway, here we go:

February 1, 2000

Q: Will you create a book continuing the story of JP, or is the next story going straight into the theaters?

Straight to theaters. The screenplay is being written now.

Mikael Salomon named Cinematographer of JP3
(2/1/00) According to Dark Horizons, Danish cinematographer Mikael Salomon will lend his talents to the third JP movie as Director of Photography.

Salomon has more than 50 DP credits to his name, many in his native Denmark, however he has also done several American movies like The Abyss (for which he earned an Oscar nomination for cinematography), Always, and one of my favorite movies, Backdraft (for which he was nominated for Visual Effects). In 1993, Salomon tried his hand at directing with his first film, A Far Off Place for Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment (for which Spielberg served as executive producer). He also directed 1998's flop, Hard Rain.

One additional tid-bit I stumbled across: Supposedly, Salomon is an accomplished underwater diver, and one of only several people in Hollywood who specializes in underwater filming. Could water play a large role in JP3? (Thanks CyberD)

Crichton's Involvement?
(1/31/00) Conflicting reports have been circulating about JP+TLW author Michael Crichton's involvement with the third movie. There are a few clues, however. In a recent online interview with Crichton on Bn.com, he was asked the following question:

I thoroughly enjoy your work and was wondering, what can you tell us about the upcoming third installment of the Jurassic Park movies?

Crichton: I can, but I won't. Sorry.

Johnston Speaks
(1/17/00) In an interview with Danish newspaper Politikken, JP3 director Joe Johnston says that Spielberg has given him a pretty much clean slate when it comes to the third dinosaur movie, though capping the budget at $83 million, $9 million less than TLW. Some excerpts (from a translation):

Johnson: "I am very happy for this assignment...There will be alot of special effects, but most important to me would be the story, which is the key to a good movie. Steven Spielberg has given me 'carte blanche'. He has said that can make my own movie, although the plot in the movie is based on the idea by Steven. He has strongly pointed out that I shouldn't try to copy him. Since our collaboration with the Indiana Jones Trilogy [Johnston served as art director for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and directed the "Princeton, 1916" episode of the excellent Young Indiana Jones Chronicles -Dan], we have talked about a joined project... I loved the two first movies and although the audience will compare my movie with Spielberg's, it doesn't scare me at all.

I can't disclose the plot yet, since we are still in the 'development phase', [at that time in the summer of 1999]. [However, I can say that] there will be new characters and new dinosaurs. We want to create a feeling of something exceptional that we know from the first two movies. A sort of return to the first one. There may be two characters we already know from the two first [movies], but in the end rather unknown characters will appear."

[About the special effects in the third movie:] Since Jurassic Park and The Lost World, the evolution within FX has gone fast, and I will of course use a lot of the new techniques that has been invented in the latest Star Wars: Episode I. [Personally,] I see a lot of flying reptiles. I look forward to start filming -- the budget is set to be 83 million dollars."

"Waterworld" Cinematographer May Join JP3 Team
(9-18-99) Dean Semler, Director of Photography for such films as Dances With Wolves, The Bone Collector, and the film released on the same day as JP, Last Action Hero, has been rumored to be attached to JP3, according to Corona's Coming Attractions. Semler would take over the position previous held by Spielberg-favorite Janusz Kaminski.

Lantieri's Back
(9-17-99) One of Harry's spies over at Ain't It Cool News got a chance to talk to Michael Lanteri (Responsible for "Special Dinosaur Effects" in JP and TLW), and happened to ask about the third JP movie. Here's what Lanteri said:

Q: What's your involvement with Jurassic Park 3?

ML : Funny you should mention that. I just had a meeting with Dennis Muren from ILM, and we were talking about that, how we wanted to keep it 'in the family. Joe Johnston's directing and he's done these kinds of films before- Jumanji, the Rocketeer. So it's moving ahead.

Koepp Not Interested
(8-7-99) A small tid-bit about JP2 screenwriter David Koepp: According to an interview with the writer/director in the September/October issue of Creative Screenwriting, Koepp chose not to write the script for JP3 because, "I felt like I was dancing pretty hard at the end of the second one to try to get the sailors to throw their money on the stage." After the less-than-stellar job Koepp did with the second movie, most JP fans are probably happy with this news.

JP3 Director Announced

JP3 director Joe Johnston

(8-5-99) According to a Universal Studios Press Release, Jurassic Park 3 will be directed by Joe Johnston (Jumanji, October Sky, and Honey, I shrunk the Kids). According to the press release, the story of JP3 was "hatched by Spielberg", but newcomer Craig Rosenberg will be writing the screenplay along with Johnston.

How will Johnston handle the responsibility of directing the third installment of one of the most popular movie series of all times? Chris Maier speculates and provides some info:

I thought I'd note that Joe Johnston was one of the designers for the first SW trilogy. He took and refined Ralph McQuarrie's designs to help give them the kind of "Worn-out" look. The JP3 series sort of has a similar look to it, at least once the dinosaurs start attacking (This is especially evident in TLW, and is one of the things I think the critics missed).

Judging by TPM, which has almost entirely digital creature effects apart from some creature masks (Some of the Tatooine citizens and the Trade Federation bad guys) I doubt we'll see any of Stan Winston's creations in this movie, but rather the creations of ILM. In TLW there was some inconsistency between the CG models of the dinosaurs and the animatronic creatures, so it'd be nice to see this fixed up. Hopefully though, they hire Stan as an advisor.

Also, and most importantly, I think Joe has the Spielberg feel for the most part in his movies. He's certainly experienced with rampaging creatures (Jumanji - although I thought the monkeys looked fake), so it's going to be interesting to see what happens.

As Chris said above, Johnston has a long history with the prestigious and semi-popular Star Wars series: In 1979 he served as "effects illustrator and designer" for A New Hope before ILM was created, and then visual effects art director for Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

Rumor Mill
So just what will JP3 be about? The rumor mill has been churning ever since the second movie was released. Here's an overview of everything I've heard so far, be it strange, dumb, or just downright weird:

• The "Ice Age" plot that was mentioned on my TLW site right after the release of the second movie. That is, a new Ice Age descends on mankind, and the dinosaurs return to hunt down the remaining humans. I find this one hard to believe.
• The "Prequel" idea is another favorite, which will document the events leading up to the first Jurassic Park. Out of all the rumors, in my opinion, this one is the best idea.
• Various titles and sub-titles have been flying around, including "Embryo", "Extinction", and even "The Return".