News From Universal
inGenNET received a report from someone who was at Universal Studios recently, reporting that as we've heard before, the TLW "visitor's center" set has indeed been fixed up. In addition, he adds that they have drained a lake on the studio grounds, presumably for JP3 filming:

"I dont know if you are familiar with the tour but there is a huge screen with a lake. This was used for several movies inculding Apollo 13 and the soon to be Charlie's Angles... Anyways they had drained the lake, and the giant screen was being turned into a huge cliff face. It was dark granite looking and very tall. They were only about 1/3 done with it, so it wont likely be used for a while, but it looked great. It reminded me of the one used in TLW in the trailer scene."

Technoified JP Theme
It's not JP3 news, but pretty cool nonetheless -- 'North2000' noticed that a new version of the JP theme has been circulating around Napster and Scour -- this one is in the techno style, and pretty well-done. You can download it here (3.6mb)!

October 5, 2000

October 3, 2000

"My wife and I were returning from Hawaii last night. Anyway...towards the end of our flight I noticed that [a woman] had JP3 parking passes and things. We started talking a little bit...she was the nanny for Eleana Neill [Sam Neill's daughter]. Anyway, they filmed in Kauai and Oahu and were returning to LA to do studio filming. She said that they would be returning to Hawaii in December to finish shooting. We didn't talk about any particulars of the movie..i.e. sceens and things, but the little girl, Elana Neill, has a small part in the movie. Most of the film crew was on the plane (in coach). Also, the nanny said that she was going to be spending the next 5 months with Elana, so I would imagine that means the filming will be going on for quite a while."

JP DVD Display Case
You'll soon be seeing this thing in your local DVD-selling store -- the display case for the soon-to-be-released JP+TLW DVD's. Soooo, yeah, there it is. You'll notice that the DVD's are in it, ready to be bought by eager consumers. Yes, it's a slow news day, but this is all I got. (Thanks to two Joshuas: Griffin and Fitch -- originally reported at MovieHeadlines.net)

Horner to Speak at NTSA Convention
This press release sends word that JP3 "dinosaur consultant" Jack Horner will be one of the speakers at the annual National Science Teachers Association convention, being held this year in Boise, Idaho on October 5-7. The convention is supposidly for educators only, but that doesn't have to stop you...

October 2, 2000

Final Fantasy Moves Out of the Way
Just noticed that Upcomingmovies.com is reporting that Sony has moved the release date of their much-anticipated (especially by me) all-CGI film, Final Fantasy ahead one week, to avoid being stepped on (no pun intended) by JP3. The website also notes that New Line's completely un-necessary sequel, Rush Hour 2, will still be sharing the box-office weekend with JP3.

Fan Art + Free Wood Dinosaur Skeletons!
Wow, I've received a whole bunch of fan art, so look for that new section soon. Again, if you have some JP-related art you've drawn and can scan it into a JPG format, send it in for the rest of us non-artistic people to oogle at. In sorta-related-but-really-not news, check out CyberRebate.com when you have a chance -- they're selling those big wooden dinosaur skeletons for FREE! There's a catch, however -- you first have to buy them then wait for the rebate check. I purchased the Raptor one a few months ago and just received the check today, so it's no scam.

October 1, 2000

Plot Details: Airfield Scene
Reporting that the below information was provided by "friends within the production," Bob from Hawaii Movie Tours posted this description of the soon-to-be-infamous "landing strip" scene we've been hearing about, where a character from the film has a show-down with one of JP3's dinos. Highlight the below paragraph to read (warning, spoilers!):

"The scene filmed at Dillingham airfield included Neill, Macy, Leoni, Nivola, Diehl and Jeter. The plane is on the landing strip at Isla Sorna and Nash and Cooper head into the jungle... . All of a sudden, the group hears a dinosaur coming and run for the plane. The pilots starts the plane as a bloodied Cooper staggers onto the runway. As he is running for the plane, a Spinosaurus crashes thru the jungle onto the runway and grabs him, tearing him to shreds. The plane accelerates down the runway and lifts off. From the cockpit, we see the huge Spino looming in front of it."

September 29, 2000

I work at Blockbuster Video and we got them in so I rented them last night. The menus are really nice with a few little animations. On JP the main menu is the t-rex footprint with ripples vibrating. It starts off showing the earth then zooms down to the island showing the footprint. There are lots of jungle sounds of dinos and stuff. The Lost World starts off the same way but zooms down into the city and shows a T-Rex foot in the street and there are police siren sounds and stuff in the background. What I wanted to see most was the JP3 trailer that the package tries hard to make you aware of. Don't get your hopes up. It is just that teaser trailer that has already been put online of the shots of the island and a first person view of a dino going through the jungle then showing the logo with the 3 slashed in. I was very disappointed. I was expecting some real footage. Anyway they are great dvds even though Steven doesn't do commentaries for some reason.

"Crash" Is Back
Just in case anyone was wondering, Jordan Mallon sends word that yep, Mark "Crash" McCreery, the concept art designer at Stan Winston Studios for both JP films, known for his amazingly detailed illustrations of the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park, is working on the JP3 project. "I've been in contact recently with someone whom I know to be a good friend of [Crash]," Jordan says. "He's been to the JP design studio on a few occasions and truly loves what he sees. Both him and Crash have total confidence in the new director's abilities and are really looking forward to the final product."

Fan Art
Speaking of which -- Are you as good as Crash? Send in your fan art, and I'll post it on the upcoming (possibily) "fan art" section of Dan's JP3 Page. I only say possibly because I'm not sure if I'll receive enough to warrant an entire section, but send in your stuff and we'll see! If you do send me images, please try and convert them to JPEG files (or even better, zip up your files), so my mailbox doesn't get clogged. Thanks.

September 27, 2000

Bob Returns With a Cast List!
Well, just when we thought we've heard everything from Bob over at Hawaii Movie Tours, he manages to get his paws on some more juicy information, including (drum roll please)... a complete and accurate cast and crew list! I'm going to update my cast+crew page to match his later today, but here's the principle cast -- interestingly, they've changed some of their names:

• Sam Neill - Alan Grant
• William H. Macy - Paul Kirby
• Tea Leoni - Amanda Kirby
• Trevor Morgan - Eric Kirby
• Alessandro Nivola - Billy Brennan
• Michael Jeter - Udesky
• Mark Harelik - Ben
• Julio Mechoso - Enrique

Pictures from the ET Segment
Steve let me know that he has posted some pictures from last night's disappointing ET segment (story) over at his site, if you're interested.

September 26, 2000

Update: As expected, the ET segment was more of a JP DVD promotion but it did feature an interview with Stan Winston, said to be working on the "second Jurassic Park sequel". "The advances we've made in animatronics and robotics is staggering.. and we're taking it that much further in Jurassic Park 3," Winston said. "[We] just left the Raptor on the JP3 set.. we were just rehearsing, getting ready for his debut scene tomorrow." Joking about how they "nailed" the effects for JP3, Winston added, "Of course, Jurassic Park 4 will show us what we didn't nail."

Leoni Interview
'maoli' noticed that JP3 star Tea Leoni was interviewed in yesterdays' issue of the Honolulu Advertiser. While the article briefly mentions that she was recently in Hawaii shooting JP3 (Leoni will play William H. Macy's estranged wife in the film), the article focuses on a somewhat more serious issue in Leoni's life: Her ongoing search for her 33-year-old cousin, who disappeared in 1995 while on a grueling Hawaiian hike. Ironically, shooting on JP3 took place close to where her cousin was believed to have disappeared.

September 25, 2000

Filming on Oahu?
According to Neo from inGenNET, the webmaster of Project Trespasser told him that the pictures of the JP3 set on his site from his trip to Hawaii were actually taken on Oahu, not Kauai, where we know for sure filming on JP3 was taking place. Since several people have reported that they can't get to this site, I've taken the liberty of posting one here, where you can see the entrance to the filming area.

Australian DVD Site Open
The Australian JP/TLW DVD Site is now open, Universal Studios' marketing device for the Aussie market. The content is a little different than it's American counterpart (featuring dinosaur facts and a section on special effects), so you might want to check it out. Have you ordered your DVD's yet? (Thanks 'INGEN CEO')