Jurassic Park Movie

What has "Jurassic Park," the movie , wrought for the publishers of Dino Times? An expected increase in circulation from 3,000 kid subscribers to perhaps half a million. What has the upcoming movie meant for the recent discovery in China of the world's oldest armored dinosaur? It will take its name-- Jurassosaurus nedegoapeferkimorum --from the actors in the film. What will it mean to dinosaur museums all over the country?

T. rexes and raptors aren't the only past movie monsters getting new life in Steven Spielberg's "The Lost World: Jurassic Park." Dig just under the surface and you'll uncover several creature feature in-jokes. The allusions began with author Michael Crichton's 1995 source novel, "The Lost World," which lifted its title from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's dino bestseller of 1912. Conan Doyle's book inspired three films of its own; the first, from 1925, is currently being restored.

The invasion of Tyrannosaurus Rexes and velociraptors is imminent. Could this be anything else than the expected merchandising mania over Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park," the adaptation of Michael Crichton's best-selling novel about a dinosaur theme park gone amok? The movie's now shooting on sound-stages in Los Angeles and stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Sir Richard Attenborough.

The summer is off to a bang with a dinosaur rampage that is not likely to slow down for a while, say industry watchers. With its mega-record $92.7-million opening five-day weekend, "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" may devour all the summer's competition--at least for the next few weeks. "Every film will be consumed by these big mothers," said Jack Trout, marketing strategist and owner of Trout and Partners. "You get a film this big, it dominates distribution.

Thundering footsteps echo from beyond a high rock cliff, beyond palm trees tall enough to blot out the skyline. Everything is louder and larger than normal inside Jurassic Park--The Ride, opening Friday at Universal Studios Hollywood. From the towering front gate to the final 84-foot drop--the tallest ever constructed for a water ride--everything is built to dinosaur scale. That includes the animatronic beasts that crash about the dense jungle.

Arriving in theaters with substantially less fanfare than the anticipated summer blockbuster films, the little romantic comedy "Sleepless in Seattle" zoomed to an estimated $17-million box-office gross in its opening weekend--a total that surprised the film industry and surpassed the $15.3-million opening recorded for the big-budgeted, fantasy-adventure extravaganza "Last Action Hero" a week ago.

With millions of toy replica dinosaurs, games, books, candy and other licensed "Jurassic Park"-related products flooding the stores, many parents are likely to feel plenty of pressure this summer from young offspring clamoring to see the PG-13-rated film. So the big question is: Will "Jurassic Park" be dangerous to your child's mental health? Executives at MCA Inc.-owned Universal Pictures and director Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment Co.

The last time an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie opened it had the built-in advertising advantage of being a sequel with an internationally popular star. Eventually, "Terminator 2--Judgment Day" led all other films as 1991's box-office champ. This time? That's one question absorbing the film industry this week as Friday's opening of Schwarzenegger's "Last Action Hero" nears. The question has become especially thorny after the $50.

A plastic surgeon from Irvine is suing some of Hollywood's biggest outfits, including Steven Spielberg's company, asserting that a melody he wrote to get over the death of his baby daughter was used as the theme music for "Jurassic Park." Dr. Donald I. Altman says film composer John Williams ("Star Wars," "Indiana Jones") "intentionally or unintentionally" copied the melody that Altman composed in 1990, five years after his daughter drowned in a neighbor's pool.

Steven Spielberg, whose "Jurassic Park" is the top worldwide grossing film in movie history, has signed on to direct the movie of Michael Crichton's sequel "The Lost World," which has nestled in the top spot on the best-seller lists since the book was published on Sept. 28. The film will be a co-production of Universal Pictures and Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, which is being folded into DreamWorks SKG, the company he formed last year with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen.

Steven Spielberg just rendered previous box-office opening records prehistoric. By the close of this Memorial Day weekend, his "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" sequel is expected to surpass its $75-million budget and fall $11 million shy of the $100-million blockbuster mark. And that's just opening weekend--a phenomenon by any standard in movie history. The three-day estimate for Friday, Saturday and Sunday was a conservative $69.

Even without his Tyrannosaurus rex co-stars from "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" (which opens tonight with sneak screenings starting at 10), Jeff Goldblum can bring plenty of drama to a simple conversation. His eyes can fix on a point somewhere above your shoulder, as if he's spotting a prehistoric intruder; his voice drops to a near-inaudible whisper before sailing up to a top-register giggly squeal.

Thundering footsteps echo from beyond a high rock cliff, beyond palm trees tall enough to blot out the skyline. Everything is louder and larger than normal inside Jurassic Park--The Ride, opening Friday at Universal Studios Hollywood. From the towering front gate to the final 84-foot drop--the tallest ever constructed for a water ride--everything is built to dinosaur scale. That includes the animatronic beasts that crash about the dense jungle.

A plastic surgeon from Irvine is suing some of Hollywood's biggest outfits, including Steven Spielberg's company, asserting that a melody he wrote to get over the death of his baby daughter was used as the theme music for "Jurassic Park." Dr. Donald I. Altman says film composer John Williams ("Star Wars," "Indiana Jones") "intentionally or unintentionally" copied the melody that Altman composed in 1990, five years after his daughter drowned in a neighbor's pool.

Steven Spielberg, whose "Jurassic Park" is the top worldwide grossing film in movie history, has signed on to direct the movie of Michael Crichton's sequel "The Lost World," which has nestled in the top spot on the best-seller lists since the book was published on Sept. 28. The film will be a co-production of Universal Pictures and Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, which is being folded into DreamWorks SKG, the company he formed last year with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen.

As construction crews lay the groundwork for an indoor jungle stalked by mechanized dinosaurs, details emerging from the guarded site of "Jurassic Park--The Ride" reveal that Universal Studios Hollywood is building one of the world's most elaborate and expensive theme park attractions. The water ride, featuring animatronics from Steven Spielberg's 1993 hit film, is not scheduled to open until the summer of 1996.

It was a jungle out there as the mega-marketed, chomping-and-stomping dinosaur action film "Jurassic Park" opened Friday. At Universal City's Cineplex Odeon, "Jurassic Park" was playing non-stop on five of the 18 screens, starting at 10:15 a.m. The movie-going public began its pilgrimage even as workers were applying the finishing touches to the signs, the lights and the thatched-hut souvenir stands. The background music was disconcerting.

Even without his Tyrannosaurus rex co-stars from "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" (which opens tonight with sneak screenings starting at 10), Jeff Goldblum can bring plenty of drama to a simple conversation. His eyes can fix on a point somewhere above your shoulder, as if he's spotting a prehistoric intruder; his voice drops to a near-inaudible whisper before sailing up to a top-register giggly squeal.

"Jurassic Park" airs Sunday night on NBC, in case you haven't heard. * And NBC would be awfully disappointed if you haven't heard. To usher in the television premiere of the highest-grossing motion picture in history, NBC began flooding its airwaves with promos more than a month ago. Two weeks ago, NBC aired "The Making of Jurassic Park" to whet viewers' appetites.

'Jurassic Park's" dinosaurs are hardly sated. After earning close to $1 billion in theaters worldwide, they stampede into video stores Oct. 4 with the heady goal of making director Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" not only the highest grossing movie in history but also the all-time best-selling videocassette.