Author: Derrick Davis

Creator of JURASSIC TIME, the John Hammond Memoir and other features. Author of the upcoming novel INVERTIVERSE.

Sam Neill On Jurassic World: Dominion Feeling Like A “Six-Hour Movie” Plus More About Grant & Sattler

Posted on by Derrick Davis

In Variety’s new article, Sam Neill (Alan Grant) reveals a juicy comment about the length and scope of the upcoming Jurassic World: Dominion film:

“It’s going be a big film. [Director] Colin Trevorrow has that childlike sense of wonder, playfulness and inventiveness that [Steven] Spielberg has. We really shot a six-hour movie. We were all very gung-ho.”

Before you start spreading the news that Jurassic World: Dominion will be a six-hour movie, let’s remember that this film has had a lengthy and unusual production, which Neill touches on later in the article:

“No one knew whether ‘Jurassic’ would continue, be postponed or be abandoned altogether […] [When we resumed] it was somewhere between rehab, summer camp and Easter break. We were compulsorily in each other’s company and much richer for it. If we were shooting in L.A., we’d go off to our different caves every night, but we got to know each other so much better.”

Given the delays and incredible circumstances, it is quite easy for everyone on the production to feel like they had made such a long film. As any Jurassic fan will also tell you, things always end up on the cutting room floor as a film is shaped into its final form. However, given the scope of this “big” film and his statement, this could mean Jurassic World: Dominion will likely be the longest film of the series. And on the chance Neill is being entirely literal, then will we see the film split in two, ala Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame? It’s entirely possible.

The article also lightly touches upon Neill’s character of Alan Grant and the relationship (or lack of) between him and Ellie Sattler (performed by Laura Dern):

“[Alan Grant is the] same character, but different world, different times. Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler haven’t seen each other for some time, so you’ll see how that pans out.”

This likely nixes the fan theories of Grant and Sattler somehow ending up together before the start of the film. At the beginning of Jurassic Park 3, it was clear that Grant and Sattler did not stay together or raise their own family as it was set up to happen in the first Jurassic Park. This creative choice on the franchise’s story upset many fans, but director/co-writer Colin Trevorrow appears to not be retconning it for Jurassic World: Dominion based on Neill’s comment. Still, there is a chance that the story of the new film could play out in favor of what fans wanted all along, or perhaps it really will stick to what some consider as a realistic endgame of their relationship.

More information leads to more questions than answers about the story and length of Jurassic World: Dominion. Given that we have over a year to wait for this epic installment of the series, expect more tantalizing details to come!

Check out the rest of Variety’s article for more details about filming during the pandemic and Sam Neill’s new film, Rams!

John Hammond Was Killed by Velociraptors in These Newly Unearthed Jurassic Park Storyboards

Posted on by Derrick Davis

Although Jurassic Park is now over 26 years old, new stories, art, and secrets continue to be unearthed by its incredibly dedicated and passionate fanbase. This Jurassic June, Jurassic Time has uncovered yet another long-forgotten storyboard from the original Jurassic Park film. It is part of what Jurassic Time dubs as “The Many Deaths Of John Hammond”.

In this newly revealed storyboard page, John Hammond is in Jurassic Park’s control room during the climax when the Raptors have broken out of their pen and have entered the Visitor Center. John Hammond, with an incubator of eggs he plans to take with him upon leaving the park to “save it”, hears Lex screaming downstairs. He opens the door to the control room to help, but is greeted by a Raptor. Hammond falls backward, crashing on a tabletop model of Jurassic Park that is on display in the control room (which was to be very similar to the one we see in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), as the Raptor digs its claws deep into his chest. The incubator shatters to the floor, breaking one of the eggs while another remains unharmed.

Later on, Grant finds Hammond in the control room, barely alive, as he tells Grant that he always knew the “first batch of DNA was too unstable” and that he was looking forward to working with him at the park. He then dies as the two men are framed by the destroyed model of Jurassic Park. Then, the one unharmed egg from before cracks open, revealing an infant Triceratops.

This was one of the many deaths originally planned for John Hammond. In the novel, John Hammond dies while falling down a hill then killed by Compies. In Michael Crichton’s first draft of the screenplay, Hammond is in the Visitor Center when he falls into the destroyed scaffolding after being startled by the twitching corpse of a Raptor. Then, he is finished off by Compies like in the novel. Jurassic Time showed an illustration from this depiction some time ago.

This was then followed by Crichton’s final draft, which featured Hammond being killed by a Raptor while the “Welcome Video” of him is being played behind him, stuttering in an eerie effect as he is being attacked. The next version of his death is the one just described with the tabletop model; originating from a script revision actually tackled by someone else no one has ever known to have penned. But that is another story that will be told another time.

The other versions of his death are of Hammond simply being left behind on the island, either by his choice or by accident. Some art and storyboards of this idea were done by Art Director John Bell, with a version of this scripted in Malia Scotch Marmo’s screenplay that followed both Crichton’s and the one the tabletop Raptor death was from.

However, once David Koepp entered into the picture, it was decided Hammond no longer needed to die. Whether it was because Richard Attenborough was cast or the filmmakers decided it didn’t fit their ever-evolving take on the character remains to be seen. It seems to be a good choice for the version of the character they ended up crafting, but it will always be interesting to see just how his many deaths were once going to be played out.

You can find more rare art and storyboards from Jurassic Park at Jurassic Time, along with an audio memoir of John Hammond read by Richard Attenborough that was adapted from the Lost World game Trespasser. It includes a video version with art by Felipe Humboldt, as pictured above, who also has been uncovering many lost relics of the Jurassic Park films via Behind The Gates.

Note: Updated with new video.