Original Jurassic World Script Featured a Raptor Pack Helicopter Jump

The original script for Jurassic World opened with the hero and a raptor pack jumping from a helicopter to raid a drug dealer’s compound. While Jurassic Park III proved to be another hit for the series back in 2001, it’s fair to say responses from fans and critics were mixed. The movie had a paper thin story, forced humor and a lack of the awe and suspense of the original, and it felt like the franchise had already run out of ideas.

This is partly why it took almost 15 years for Jurassic World to arrive. A number of concepts were thrown around during this period, including Alan Grant and Ian Malcolm teaming up to stop the spread of dinosaurs on a new island. The most famous abandoned idea from writer John Sayles featured a mercenary being hired to train a team of dinosaur/human hybrids for a villain named Baron Von Drax. Despite producer Steven Spielberg initially being onboard with this far out concept, the idea was ultimately dropped after a couple of drafts.

Jurassic World was co-written and directed by Colin Trevorrow, but there was already a script by writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver before he came onboard. Trevorrow greatly reworked the screenplay before filming, but the director recalled the original opening sequence from that draft in a new interview with BDH Network Magazine.

I only read Rick and Amanda's script once, so I don't remember all the details of it. The lead character was a guy called Vance, who ultimately became Owen in our story. The film opened with Vance jumping out of a helicopter with a pack of raptors on a military raid of a drug dealer's compound in Colombia. It was a different approach.

While Jurassic World’s Owen Grady does train a pack of raptors to obey this commands and even leads them into battle against the Indominus Rex, the movie doesn’t turn them into military weapons. This is a notion InGen wants Grady to consider, but only the possibility is raised. While a raptor drug raid certainly would have been a unique way to open the movie, the scene also ran the risk of being incredibly silly. In the end, Trevorrow put the focus back on the park and the fight against the new hybrid dinosaur.

Maybe the notion of dinosaurs being used as soldiers will come up again in future Jurassic World sequels, however. Trevorrow will return to the director’s chair for Jurassic World 3, which he has stated will be a ‘science thriller’ like Jurassic Park. There are also rumors characters from the original trilogy like Ian Malcolm and Ellie Sattler will make a return, and that the movie will build on the implications of one of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’s most controversial twists.

Source: https://screenrant.com