Jurassic Park III is a 2001 American science fiction action film directed by Joe Johnston and written by Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor. It is the third installment in the Jurassic Park franchise and the final film in the original Jurassic Park trilogy, following The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997). It is also the first film in the franchise not to be directed by Steven Spielberg, as well as the first not to be based on a novel by Michael Crichton; however, the film features characters and ideas by Crichton. Sam Neill and Laura Dern reprise their roles from the first film. New cast members include William H. Macy, Téa Leoni, Alessandro Nivola, Trevor Morgan and Michael Jeter. The plot follows a divorced couple who deceive paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant into helping them find their son, who has gone missing on Isla Sorna.
After the release of Spielberg's Jurassic Park, Joe Johnston expressed interest in directing a sequel, which Spielberg agreed to. Universal Pictures announced the third film in June 1998, with a release scheduled for mid-2000. A draft written by Peter Buchman was rejected five weeks ahead of filming in favor of a simpler story idea suggested by David Koepp, the writer of the previous two films. Payne and Taylor were hired to rewrite the earlier script by Buchman, who made further revisions to their draft. Filming lasted five months, beginning in Hawaii in August 2000 before moving to California. A final draft of the script was never completed during production, a circumstance Johnston considered quitting over. Jurassic Park III features a combination of computer-generated and animatronic dinosaurs. A Spinosaurus replaces the Tyrannosaurus from previous films as the principal dinosaur antagonist.
Jurassic Park III premiered on July 16, 2001, and was theatrically released on July 18. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film was successful at the box office, grossing $368.8 million worldwide to become the eighth highest-grossing film of 2001; however, it is the lowest-grossing installment in the franchise to date. In 2015, it was followed by Jurassic World, which started the Jurassic World sequel trilogy.
Plot
Twelve-year-old Eric Kirby and his mother's boyfriend, Ben Hildebrand, are parasailing near the restricted Isla Sorna. As the boat enters a thick fog, the crew is killed by an unknown attacker, prompting Ben to detach the line before the vessel crashes into rocks. Eric and Ben drift towards the island.
Eight weeks later, paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant struggles to secure funding for his Velociraptor research, and rebuffs the public's obsession with the events on Isla Nublar. Grant discusses his research with a longtime colleague Ellie, hypothesizing that Velociraptors were intellectually and socially advanced beyond even primates. In Montana, his assistant, Billy Brennan, uses a three-dimensional printer to replicate a Velociraptor larynx.
Paul and Amanda Kirby, a seemingly wealthy couple, offer to fund Grant's research if he gives them an illegal aerial tour of Isla Sorna. Grant reluctantly agrees, flying there with Billy, two of the Kirbys' mercenary associates (Udesky and Cooper), and their pilot (Nash). Grant learns that the Kirbys intend to land; he protests, but Cooper knocks him unconscious. Grant awakens to find that the group has landed, although they reboard the plane when a large theropod approaches the runway, leaving Cooper behind. During takeoff, a Spinosaurus emerges and devours Cooper. The aircraft hits the dinosaur and crashes into the trees. The Spinosaurus attacks the plane and eats Nash, who has Paul's satellite phone. The survivors flee, only to encounter a Tyrannosaurus. The two dinosaurs fight, and the Spinosaurus kills the Tyrannosaurus as the humans escape.
Grant furiously confronts the Kirbys, who reveal they are a middle-class divorced couple, searching for their son Eric and Amanda's boyfriend Ben. Government agencies declined to help, so they deceived Grant and brought him along, mistakenly believing him to have experience on Isla Sorna. The group begins searching for Eric and Ben, as they travel to the coast. They find Ben's corpse attached to the parasail, which Billy takes. They also stumble upon a Velociraptor nest, and Billy secretly places two eggs in his bag.