Michael Crichton: The science fiction author who penned the script for Jurassic Park
Who hasn’t watched and loved the Hollywood blockbuster Jurassic Park? Directed by iconic director Steven Spielberg, this 1993 flick was scripted by Michael Crichton, a renowned American sci-fi author. Yes, he is not only a fiction author, he is a screenplay writer too. John Michael Crichton (1942–2008), better-known as Michael Crichton, was the brain behind the screenplays of the world’s most celebrated Hollywood movies. His specialties include science fiction, techno thriller, and medical fiction – all of which focus largely on technology. Here is the list of three of his most well-known scripts.
Jurassic Park (1993)
Crichton had written a science fiction thriller in the year 1990 titled Jurassic Park, published by Alfred Knopf. When the book became world-famous within just a few months of its publication, Spielberg showed interest in making a movie out of it and requested Crichton to write its screenplay. This is when Crichton wrote the script ‘Jurassic Park: The Movie Storybook’ featuring dinosaurs who were recreated through cloning to populate an amusement park. This is how the story unfolds: When safety measures of the amusement park go out of place, all hell breaks loose and mankind comes face to face with mortal danger. Till date, this movie is an all-time blockbuster popular with all generations. It was the debut movie in the Jurassic Park movie franchise which includes The Lost World (written 1995, released as a movie, 1996); Jurassic Park 3 (2001); Jurassic World (2015); Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Battle at Big Rock (2019).
Sphere (1998)
When Crichton wrote his sci-fi novel Sphere in 1987, he wanted to make a movie out of it as the book was widely accepted in the US. However, due to some unforeseen circumstances, he couldn’t go on with his plan. However, his script for the film was ready. So, when in the late 1990s, filmmaker Barry Levinson approached Crichton to let him use his script, Crichton agreed to his proposal. The story is about a psychologist who is called by the U.S. Navy to join a team of scientists to examine a never seen before spacecraft at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. But to their surprise, the spacecraft holds secret entrances to some of their worst fears.
Timeline (2003)
Crichton’s 1999 sci-fi novel ‘Timeline’, published by Alfred Knopf, inspired a movie by the same name, four years later. As a result, when the movie’s director Richard Donner approached Crichton about the selling rights, Crichton volunteered to write the screenplay for the movie. The story is about a team of archaeological students that time travel to the Middle Ages to retrieve a fellow archaeologist and their professor who is trapped there. However, the team must also survive 14th century chaotic France long enough to be rescued.
Needless to say, just like the original bestseller fictions, the movies went on to become blockbusters and have left a legacy of their own.