With more than five sequels and an entire multimedia franchise based around it, it's safe to say Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park, based on Michael Crichton's novel of the same name, is one of the most successful films. Even amongst his highly-profitable filmography, the dinosaur flick remains his most profitable film with a gross of $1.1 billion.
Moreover, the Jurassic Park franchise has developed a reputation as tentpole films. Throughout the series, the cast has also attracted major stars such as Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey. Even so, this property almost had a very different fate.
Per Comic Basics, Avatar director James Cameron nearly secured those rights instead of Spielberg. “I tried to buy the book rights, and he beat me to it by a few hours
According to Cameron, his vision for the Jurassic Park franchise was considerably darker. "He was the right guy to make it, not me," said Cameron. "Because I would have made it too terrifying and R-rated. It would have been Aliens with dinosaurs."
He went on to praise the accessible approach that Spielberg gave Jurassic Park. "Dinosaurs are for 8-year-olds," Cameron added. "We can all enjoy it, too, but kids get dinosaurs, and they should not have been excluded [because of] that. His sensibility was right for that film, I’d have gone further, nastier, much nastier."
While Cameron's R-rated take on Jurassic Park would have been interesting, the director makes a good point. Part of why the Jurassic franchise is so beloved and successful is that younger audiences can enjoy it too. This is also what has made it a media juggernaut with a myriad video game, comic, and television spin-offs. Still, the idea of a more horrific Jurassic Park with Cameron behind the camera is an intriguing what-if.
