Jurassic Park (film)

Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction action film directed by Steven Spielberg and the first of the Jurassic Park franchise. It is based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Michael Crichton, with a screenplay written by Crichton and David Koepp. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Ariana Richards, Joseph Mazzello, Martin Ferrero, Wayne Knight, Samuel L. Jackson, and Bob Peck. The film centers on the fictional Isla Nublar, an islet located off Costa Rica's Pacific Coast, where a billionaire philanthropist and a small team of genetic scientists have created a wildlife park of cloned dinosaurs.

Before Crichton's book was published, four studios put in bids to acquire the film rights. Spielberg, with the backing of Universal Studios, acquired the rights for $1.5 million before publication in 1990, and Crichton was hired for an additional $500,000 to adapt the novel for the screen. David Koepp wrote the final draft, which left out much of the novel's exposition and violence and made numerous changes to the characters. Filming took place in California and Hawaii between August and November 1992, and post-production rolled until May 1993, being supervised by Spielberg in Poland as he filmed Schindler's List. The dinosaurs were created through groundbreaking computer-generated imagery by Industrial Light & Magic in conjunction with life-sized animatronic dinosaurs built by Stan Winston's team. To showcase the film's sound design, which included a mixture of various animal noises for the dinosaur roars, Spielberg invested in the creation of DTS, a company specializing in digital surround sound formats.

Following an extensive $65 million marketing campaign, which included licensing deals with 100 companies, Jurassic Park grossed over $900 million worldwide in its original theatrical run. It surpassed Spielberg's 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to become the highest-grossing film at the time (a distinction it would yield to Titanic 4 years later). The film was well received by critics, who praised it for its special effects and Spielberg's direction but criticized the writing. The film won more than 20 awards (including 3 Academy Awards), mostly for its visual effects. Following a 3D re-release in 2013 to celebrate its 20th anniversary, Jurassic Park ' s total gross eclipsed $1 billion, making it the 17th film to do so. It currently ranks as the 13th-highest-grossing film worldwide, the 16th-highest-grossing film in North America (unadjusted for inflation), and the highest-grossing film released by Universal and directed by Spielberg. Jurassic Park is considered by many as one of the greatest science fiction films ever made, as well as a landmark in the vector of visual effects, in regards to computer-generated imagery and animatronics. The film was followed by two sequels, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III, which both became box office successes but received a mixed critical response. A fourth film entitled Jurassic World is scheduled for release in 2015.