Spielberg On JP4?
A individual calling himself 'Insider' and claiming to work for Industrial Light and Magic commented on the message board that before JP3 was released, Steven Spielberg met with some Universal executives, ILM artists, and writers to talk about very early ideas for JP4. Obviously, this is one of those things that is almost impossible to confirm, so take his report as you will. However, if you believe him, it seems to signal the reincarnation of a popular rumor which has existed even before TLW came out: That JP4 will be a prequel to Jurassic Park. Here's 'Insider':

Steven and Co. held a conference to come up with the next film, JP4, and how we would go about managing it. It was just to see how things might operate during Jurassic Park 4’s production. A small group was invited to sit in. We tried to mainly create an extensive idea of the story but did get to know a lot about the work we might be producing from the supervisors and art directors. Here are some of my recounts of the conference, and I have tried to recall the majority of them.

Most of what we talked about were concepts, which means although they may be close to the final product, they’re not 100% certain, but you never know. The artists were there to draw up concepts if needed. The basic concepts that kept popping up were Isla Nublar, which you know as the first island. They tickered with the thought that the previous three movies (not the novels) didn’t really explain what happened after Jurassic Park. The prequel concept popped up regularly. But the majority of the discussion was on Isla Nubular.

There was brief talk of continuing on after Jurassic Park 3 chronologically, but it was put down at that time due to the audience thinking it would lack creativity to instantly bring the Dinos back to the mainland. They really wanted to create something different this time. Isla Sorna was dropped for the time being.

During the discussion, the artists and writers did their scribbling as normal. Steve wanted to show the “King Kong” entrance again. The can that was supposably lost in the mud was brought up as an idea. The idea was not to feature Isla Nublar in the film as a majority, but just that the can was found during the destruction of Nublar, and utilised. Some previous characters came up. Alan of course came up for a sequel. Billy was briefly mentioned, as was Ian. But most of the characters were directed towards a prequel. That is, how to bring them back before the first film. There were never any ideas of the film being between one and two or two and three. Actually, the only one was first up, and it included Isla Sorna during first movie, and the accidents that happen on that island to leave it abandoned. Apart from that, it was sequel, and prequel – no in-betweens.

One of the writers had a cool idea that we enjoyed. The genetic problems the dino-creators were having before Jurassic Park, and an adventure with brand new characters as they are trying to deal with the park full of dinosaurs. It was far more detailed then this, and I might post it another time.

Of course, this was only a preliminary discussion between a few executives, writers, artists, and Steven. I wouldn’t be surprised if they change their minds. And it wasn’t really official as we were still preparing for Jurassic Park 3’s release.

August 29, 2001

"Craving a bit of face time with a dinosaur or two? Now Jurassic Park Island can be all yours for one night -- and a mere million bucks. Universal Studios Islands of Aventure theme park in Orlando, Fla. is opening the gates at Jurassic Park Island for an evening right out of the movies. The exclusived night includes a specially arranged adventure complete with chartered jet, a luxurious campsite attended by butlers, and all the theme park rides you can stand.

"No theme park has ever given guests as much access and as much adventure as we are ready to provide," said Rich Costales, senior vice president of operations for Islands of Adventure. The million-dollar night includes ultimate access to the island for the lucky individual and 19 of his friends or family. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Jurassic Institute for dinosaur research.

Tiny DVD News
Tiny, tiny bit of JP3 DVD news: Bill over at The Digital Bits is reporting that the official name of the upcoming JP3 DVD will be "Jurassic Park III: Collector's Edition", hinting that the disc will contain at least some special features. Last we heard, the disc will street December 11th.

August 28, 2001

Walking Like Dinosaurs
Here's an interesting dino-story on ABCNews.com, which describes research at University of Utah to create a "dino suit" in an attempt to simulate the locomotion of an adult allosaurus. I'll take two. (Thanks 'remelton')

August 26, 2001

Article #1000!
Another semi-milestone here at Dansjp3page.com -- amazingly enough, this is the 1000th story I've written on the site since it opened back in February 2000. Thanks once again to everyone whose sent me news to make those stories -- it would have been pretty difficult without you! As you might have noticed, things have been quieting down here recently, though we've still got plenty of news about the upcoming JP3 games and DVD to look forward to. So stick around!

August 24, 2001

August 23, 2001

August 22, 2001

Spielberg Called JP3 'For The People'
In an article from today's edition of LA Times, which explores several of the "under dog" movies this summer that performed far beyond Hollywood's expectations, JP3 director Joe Johnston reveals that Steven Spielberg suggested that the film would not be a critical success, and instead should just be a fun movie. "The critics hate the 'Jurassic Park' movies," he told Johnston. "Forget about that. You're making this movie for the people." Johnston's reply? "OK, whatever."

One would normally not think that a Spielberg franchise would be a dark horse, but before "Jurassic Park III" came out, there were many in Hollywood who scratched their heads and asked, "Do we really need another dinosaur movie?'"

Director Johnston said he heard such comments "endlessly" before the movie's debut. "I was even wondering that myself a couple of years ago," he recalled.

Johnston, a veteran filmmaker with credits such as "October Sky," "Jumanji" and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids," said he didn't know how well "Jurassic Park III" had performed at the box office for the first eight days because he had trekked into a remote area of Montana on—what else?—a dinosaur dig.

"I totally forgot about the movie for eight days and it was fantastic," Johnston recalled. Now, Johnston said, it would suit him just fine if he could continue to avoid the limelight for awhile.

"Anonymity is a wonderful thing if you can hang on to it," he observed.

Australia Ready for JP3
The marketing campaign for next Thursday's release of JP3 in the land down under is underway, with several people reporting seeing commercials for the film (fun tidbit: the commericals hawk JP3 as coming "This Winter" instead of "This Summer", as Australia is in the southern hemisphere). Michael also reports Sam Neill will appear on "Rove Live" next Tuesday (at 9:30pm) hawking the film, and Channel 10 will air the original JP, "followed by 'The Making of JP3'" on Friday, August 31st. (Also thanks Tim and 'Embryo'.

August 20, 2001

New TV Show Spoofs JP
A new television show which tours the country looking for amateur actors to appear in spoofs of popular movies will do an episode on JP, according to 'JPS2B', who sent in this pic from his TV Guide of a pretty poor recreation of a certain scene we've seen before.. Called "Small Shots", it premieres on Wednesday at 8pm on TNN, aka The National Network (It is not known when the JP edition of the show will air).

August 17, 2001

August 16, 2001

Hannah on 'Enterprise'
Remember Hannah in JP3, Ellie's assistant who had a total of, like, two lines? Well, her next role will be substantilly larger: Starting September 24th, Linda Park will play Communications Officer Hoshi Sato in UPN's new Star Trek TV show, Enterprise. It seems like she will be one of the main characters on the new show, which is set before all the other Trek series. For more info, go to Trek fansite STEnterprise.com. (Thanks 'Billy_Brennan')

August 14, 2001

Among the new characters, Spinosaurus, largest of the known carnosaurs, represented a particular challenge. Here was another huge and fierce creature that attacks the human protagonists, as well as other would-be enemies. The battle scene between Spinosaurus and T-Rex is intense indeed: two giant creatures scream and slash at one another for all to see. Boyes says this tete-a-tete was particularly tricky because the sounds made by each dinosaur, both of whom are large predators, had to be distinct enough to stand out during side-by-side combat shown through visual effects and quick editing.

In defining Spinosaurus' roaring screech, [Christopher] Boyes looked to sound design elements provided by Doug Quin, a field recordist who had captured sounds of buzzards eating a wildebeest on the island of Madagascar, and by Cathy Turco, an experienced nature recordist. Between the violence in the vulture-voices and the desperation of Cathy's crying bearcubs, Boyes delivered a final element that has a piercing mid-to-high end accompanied by formidable low-end tones. "I knew the director, Joe Johnson, wanted a powerful sound that suggested the character was 20 percent bigger and more dangerous than T-Rex," recalls Boyes. "I also kind of liked the high-frequency screech that was in some of the recordings. So basically, between the vultures and the bearcubs, I came up with what became the signature call for Spinosaurus: massive, ferocious, yet intelligent."

[For the pteranodons], Boyes created a distinctive sound by using nature recordings: this time, a giant petrol recorded by Kathy Turco and a teal flying over at 120 mph recorded by Lang Elliot combined with a tree hyrax recorded by Doug Quin. To support the pteranodons' motion, Boyes then added in requisite wingflaps.

JP3 In 'Cheap Theaters'
If you're tired of shelling out $8 each time you go see JP3, 'John Hammond' reports that according to a booking schedule, JP3 will arrive at the more in-expensive "second-run" theaters in the US beginning August 31st. These theaters are few and far between these days, but show films a few months after they come out for a buck or two.

Australian JP3 Promo
All you guys down under, be sure to stop by the annual traveling festival known as "The Exhibition" (Ekka for short), currently now in Brisbane. According to Tim, one of the "show bag's" that are being sold there this year includes a JP3-themed one with tons of cool stuff inside: temporary tattoos, a hat, binoculars, a bottle holder, a mouse pad, and a camera, all for about 16 bucks.

[News from July 30th through August 13th]