just what i dreaded….
Dino-Might: “Jurassic IV” Unearthed
Friday November 8 3:00 PM ET
Universal Pictures is ready for some new digs.
The studio is once again teaming with Steven Spielberg to excavate a new installment in the billion-dollar Jurassic Park franchise.
Everything’s still in the drawing-board phase–the studio just tapped scribe William Monahan to write the screenplay, according to the Hollwood Reporter–but expect Jurassic Park IV to follow the bankable formula of inept humans getting picked off by hungry T. Rexes, velociraptors, pterodactyls and other cool, CGI dinos on the rampage at some exotic locale. No official word on whether cast members like Sam Neill ( news), Jeff Goldblum ( news), Laura Dern ( news), Julianne Moore ( news) or Vince Vaughn ( news) would be back for the fourth go-round.
There’s also no word on a director. Spielberg–who directed 1993’s original Jurassic Park and its 1997 sequel The Lost World before handing over helming chores to protégé Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer, Jumanji) for Jurassic Park III–will only serve as producer on the project with Kathleen Kennedy. Johnston is also out of the running, according to E! Online movie columnist Anderson Jones.
Jones also reports that Spielberg has dreamt up a story idea, meaning it’s doubtful that author Michael Crichton ( news) (who wrote the original dinosaurs-amok-in-an-amusement park novel that launched the franchise) will help develop Jurassic IV. However, he will likely again draw a producer’s credit.
Monahan recently penned 20th Century Fox’s upcoming historical drama Tripoli, which will reunite director Ridley Scott ( news) with his Oscar-winning Gladiator star, Russell Crowe ( news). Monahan is also collaborating with Scott on another untitled script set during the Crusades.
Green-lighting a fourth Jurassic Park is about as close to a no-brainer as it gets in Hollywood.
The first Jurassic Park ranks fourth on the all-time worldwide box-office list, having earned $914 million in ticket sales. Combined with the $614 million in receipts from The Lost World and the $365 million from Jurassic III, the franchise has earned nearly $2 billion globally–and that’s minus the gazillions in profits the studio and producers made from video and TV sales, along with ancillary toys, games and other licensed merchandise.
By the time the script is written and the movie enters production, Jurassic Park IV should storm theaters in summer 2005.