James Cameron almost directed a “nastier” Jurassic Park?

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Look at the velociraptors pictured above. Do you detect a certain melancholy among them? Sure, they’re trying to spill a 10-year-old boy’s innards all over that kitchen, but I can’t help but feeling they’re going through the motions. What would create such a dour mood among these dinosaurs? Maybe they were just told James Cameron almost directed JURASSIC PARK.

During a visit to Belfast’s recently-opened Titanic museum, the director revealed Steven Spielberg beat him to the punch for the rights to Michael Crichton’s novel. Despite the missed opportunity, Cameron noted how pleased he was with Spielberg’s end results: “… when I saw the film, I realised that I was not the right person to make the film, he was. Because he made a dinosaur movie for kids, and mine would have been ALIENS with dinosaurs, and that wouldn’t have been fair… His sensibility was right for that film, I’d have gone further, nastier, much nastier.”

This news story is not a huge revelation, but is certainly one to be filed under the “movies that could have been” banner. I personally figure Cameron would have gone the CARNOSAUR route with his JURASSIC PARK. Said Roger Corman mockbuster franchise took a similar premise to JP’s, but added more sex and bloodshed. I’m sure Cameron’s approach would have had more skill, intelligence, and aplomb than those films, but this article gave me a chance to reference CARNOSAUR. How could I pass that up?