John Sayles and the Unmade Jurassic Park IV

Abstract

This article offers a critical and in-depth analysis of the unmade and ultimately abandoned Jurassic Park IV. Written by script doctor and pioneering Indie director John Sayles (who had previously worked on the unmade sci fi horror Night Skies with Spielberg – a project which would many of the foundations for E.T. The Extra Terrestrial), the script would have taken the series in a very different direction. While it was never made, it did however, open the way for the Jurassic World franchise and this article will later offer a close reading and analysis of the script which was leaked online in the mid-2000s. This article will demonstrate how the script is part of the bedrock on which the Jurassic World franchise was built, but it will also examine the overlooked importance of the role of the Hollywood script doctor, and consider Spielberg’s waning attachment to the franchise. Finally, the article excavates a range of now defunct early internet forums and discussion boards in order show how the film emerged (or rather didn’t) at a time when the internet was proving itself as a new landscape for fans to speculate about cinema and for the leaking and drip feeding of information. It is through these sites that we can piece together a timeline for the unproduction of Jurassic Park IV.