Macy Sets The Record Straight?
William H. Macy sat down with USA Today.com's Jeannie Williams in an column published in this morning's paper. In the article, Williams grills Macy about his now-infamous negative comments about JP3, which Macy claims were simply taken out of context: (Thanks 'JP Animal Control')

Macy acknowledges he did mention launching a $100 million ship without a rudder, but says, "I wasn't talking about Jurassic Park." (He won't say which movie, but could it be Mystery Men?)

Despite this and more dino-stress, what he really wants is to set the record straight: "I had a grand time! I never said I was unhappy on the set. (Director) Joe Johnston is such a great guy! I've been on a couple of big movies, and this is my favorite one yet."

Macy is happy to talk about dangling 35 feet from a crane over water while a spinosaurus rocks him back and forth. And about feeling trapped and drowning in a metal cage under water, even though it was open-ended.

One of the tougher scenes was a plane crash: "We're in the fuselage, (Spoilers! - highlight to read)and the dinos are rolling it over and over. We padded ourselves, but we all walked out banged up, beat up. But the stunt people do so much more."

Macy also got the idea to leap over a bush while fleeing the dinosaurs, but he failed to spot a huge wooden pot around a tree and slammed into it. The shot was kept, and Macy can't wait to see it.

Action Figures in Stores May 12
Luke Sikura managed to pry some release date info out of the manager at his local Toys R' Us, and sends word that this particular store expects the first shipment of Hasbro action figuers next Saturday, May 12th.

First Trailer Report!
James Fedas was the first to send in their report on the brand-new JP3 trailer, which he saw last night before a special screening of "The Mummy Returns". Here's what James has to say (Highlight to read the spoilers!):

"Wow! Was this trailer amazing or what!? The firt 20 seconds or so, you are in a restaurant in the plane, and they are all talking. Then in a second the plane crashes, and people are screaming. They run and scream (as expected). There's one part that really sticks out, they are in an old building, possibly the old compound, and Tea Leoni is looking at what seems to be a raptor mannequin, but the audence sees the raptors eyes move but Tea cleary doesn't. OOPS! Open you eyes Tea! Then you hear a gunshot and some people screaming "RUN!". As for the raptors and the feathers, on the 2 or 3 you see in the trailer, there is hardly anything, one is w/o them and the others have little feathers, under 2 inches each."

Shooting Script, Page 3
Bob from Hawaii Movie Tours (who is the proud owner of a JP3 script he just won on Ebay, by the way), let me know he has posted page 3 of his one-liner shooting script on his site. You can see it here. Notice Bob blacked out the "super spoilers", which seem to be some of the (original) ending.

JP3 Article in Cinescape
The latest issue of Cinescape magazine features a short article on -- what else? -- JP3, send along by 'Oviraptor'. Some excerpts:

Usually in a Jurassic Park movie, the humans are being chased by dinosaurs. And Jurassic Park III, directed by The Rocketeer helmer Joe Johnston, will be no different. But the humans weren't always the chasees this time around. They were also the chasers...at least off screen. "We've been chasing the script all along," says production designer Ed Verreaus. "We've had a script that's been like a moving target and has changed a lot. So all during the course of pre-production and production we've been having to adjust to and overcome changes in the script."

In the film, Macy's character, billionaire Paul Kirby, recruits Grant to return to the dinosaur infested island seen in the first two films. "He's the only one who really understands the size and the power of these animals," Verreaux says of Neill's character. "Everybody else who is with him doesn't really get it at first. That's kind of fun because the audience is watching, and we all know what he knows. So we are kind of giggling to ourselves, [thinking], "Wait until that T-rex shows up. You're really going to be surprised."

New Poster on Ebay
Gregg Truscott points out there are two new auctions selling the new version of the JP3 poster (with a shadow of a pteranodon overlaying the JP3 logo).

Honda Racing
A little new info for you motorcycle racing fans, this Honda Racing press release gives some info as to when we'll see the promised "special JP3 designs" on the Honda bikes: Ezra Lusk will drive the JP3 CR250R motocrosser at Red Bud, Michigan on July 1, while Nicky Hayden will try not to crash his JP3 RC51 Superbike at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California on July 6-8.

May 1, 2001

No Trailer in Australia?
Embryo sends word that according to a source at UIP (the company handeling the international distribution of the film), the JP3 trailer is currently not attached to the release of The Mummy in Australia (to be released next Thursday). It may follow a few weeks later, however.

April 30, 2001

Trailer on ET, Access Hollywood Friday
While it seems as if the highly anticipated JP3 trailer will not debut on the entertainment TV shows tomorrow as we had hoped, a Universal source has confirmed that both ET and Access Hollywood are planning on showing the JP3 trailer on the Friday edition of the shows. In addition, JurassicPark.com is still planning on posting it on the site that day. But just in case, you better buy your ticket to The Mummy 2. :)

April 29, 2001

UNIVERSAL PICTURES presents
an Amblin Enterainment production "Jurassic Park III" a JOE JOHNSTON film
SAM NEILL WILLIAM H. MACY TEA LEONI ALESSANDRO NIVOLA TREVOR MORGAN
MICHAEL JETER Music by DON DAVIS Edited by ROBERT DALVA ??? MICHAEL CRICHTON
Production Design ED VERRAUX Director of Photography SHELLY JOHNSON
Written by PETER BUCHMAN Produced by KATHLEEN KENNEDY LARRY FRANCO
Directed by JOE JOHNSTON A Universal Picture

[Update: 'kayman' spotted the new poster at his local theater yesterday, and can confirm that Spielberg is not there, and Crichton's credit is "Based on characters created by:"]

More Toy Spottings
'Neo_the1' was at the FAO Schwartz on 5th ave in New York City yesterday, and noticed they were selling several electronic JP3 games, including the Tiger "Rex Head" LCD game (where the jaws close slowly depending on how you do in the game), and the three other "mini action games" where you're a spino, rex, or pteranodon. In addition, there was a JP3 flashlight, apparently the same as the TLW flashlight, "but with a repaint and a new pacakge to match JP3. It [has] 2 buttons, one to turn on, the other to make roaring noises."

April 28, 2001

"It's a lot closer to the first movie than the second. The trailer starts subdued with a lots of daylight and the music from the first movie. Sam is speaking about the raptors, and how much smarter they were than anyone ever thought. Willam H. Macy and Tea Leoni are having dinner with Sam Neill. They tell him that they want a guide to the Jurassic Park island, and that they'd 'love to make a contribution to his research'. Naturally, Sam thinks it sounds like a great idea, and agrees. Apparently his 8 year absence from the island has washed away the intellect that would suggest this is a very bad idea.

"Next, they're flying over the island. The pilot (or was it William?) points out the landing strip that's coming up. Sam, not being as stupid as I initially thought, objects. 'You can't land this plane!' There we learn that Sam agreed to fly over, which isn't as bad as landing. William H. Macy responds in a soothing voice, 'We can explain!' Before he can explain, though, things start to go wrong. The plane crash lands. Presumably a dino had something to with it. Otherwise, what would be the point of the movie?

"Some flying dinos have a key role in this. There's mention of a bird cage at the end of the trailer. It also has the sets from the first movie, such as the incubation area, all a mess from the years of neglect. We also learn that the dinosaurs actually speak to each other.

"As the trailer goes on, it picks up pace. There's the obligatory the night time, rain storm, dino vs. human battle."

Extra Report
Doug points us this morning to this page, on a website called -- oddly enough -- "The Adventures of Dan: Extra Extraordinare". In the report, Dan talks about his adventures as an extra on the set of JP3. It's very long and fun to read, so check it out. At least one interesting fact -- there were 500 extras, but only used in four days out of the entire shoot (during Grant's lecture -- filmed at Occidental College in LA. About half way down the page Dan gives a detailed description of this scene.).

Different Trailers?
JP3HQ received a report from someone claiming that Universal will release several slightly different versions of the JP3 trailer around the US, "to see which one works best." In addition, they say we can probably expect a new trailer by Memorial Day, in front of "Pearl Harbor".

USA Makes JP3 Predictions
An article in yesterday's USA Today entitled "A reunion with old friends" takes a look at some of this summer's upcoming sequels, saying JP3 "should at least break the $100 million blockbuster barrier." "Here, a group is stranded in a primordial dinosaur breeding ground that has become a magnet for thrill-seakers." (Thanks JP Animal Control)

April 27, 2001

Shooting Script, Page 2
Bob from Hawaii Movie Tours sends word that he has posted Page 2 of his JP3 Shooting Script up at his site, located here. Watch out for spoilers!! (I didn't look)

April 26, 2001

Feathered Dinosaur Discovered
Several people wanted me to mention this new Reuters story, which reports on the discovery of a 130-million-year-old fossil of a feathered dinosaur (apparetly a dromaeosaur), providing "dramatic evidence that birds evolved from the ancient reptiles". The fossils, first discovered in China, are now on display at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. Obviously, the Jurassic Park series seems to be ahead of its time in the science department once again, as at least some of the raptors in JP3 will sport feathered head crests. (Thanks Phil and Vinay)

Warner Home Video Attempts to Captalize on JP3
Here's an indication of things to come -- companies releasing dinosaur-related products around the time of JP3's release in an attempt to capitalize on the success of the franchise. Warner, for one, has announced a set of two new videos to be released in July, including the successful IMAX film, "T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous" and the old four-part "The Dinosaurs!" series.

April 25, 2001

``Jurassic Park III'' director Joe Johnston had the unenviable task of following Spielberg's two blockbuster dinosaur flicks. But the project had full support from Spielberg, who is executive producer on the new sequel and hand-picked Johnston to direct.

``No one can come along and make a Steven Spielberg movie except Steven Spielberg,'' said Johnston, whose directing credits include ``Jumanji'' and ``October Sky.'' ``He didn't hire me to make a Steven Spielberg movie. He hired me to make my own.''

``I think you do have to sort of ratchet up the intensity of these films as you get into sequel after sequel. You have to keep offering the audience more,'' Johnston said.

JP3 Website, Trailer Info
Don't think you'll be able to make it to the opening night of The Mummy 2 next Friday for the JP3 trailer? Don't worry, as I've received word from a Universal source that they are "hoping" they will have a "fullscreen Quicktime version" available for download on the site that night.

More on the PDA Games
Joonas was able to pry some more information out of the people at the In-Fusio both about their JP3-related games for PDA's and WAP-enabled cell-phones. Apparently the JP3 game will debut a new technology called "ExEn", which allows simple games for these hand-held devices. "The JP-game I played was quite simple," Joonas said. "[You] drive with a car among the dinosaurs, and avoid collisions. Simple, but addictive. From the mobile phone world's point of view, this technology is something we have never seen before."

Toy Preview
JP3HQ took a look at another of the upcoming Hasbro toys, this time the "Electronic Deluxe RE-AK-A-TAK Biting Dino", finally giving a description of what exactly "Re-ak-a-tak" is: Apparently it's just a fancy way of saying there's a button (on a "wound") that causes the dino to roar when pushed, in addition to a button by its mouth. I have a question.. Should we really be encouraging our children to play with wounds? :) (Thanks Dan J.)

[News from April 14th through April 24th]