Jurassic Park: An Essay

Jurassic Park: An Essay

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MARCELO DALLE GRAVE S00701953

USING EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES BA (HONS) FILM, TV & DIGITAL MEDIA PRODUCTION

REGENT’S UNIVERSITY LONDON

JURASSIC PARK: AN ESSAY

ILLUSTRATIVE ESSAY BREAKING DOWN CROSS-PLATFORM BRAND EXTENSIONS OF AN EXISTING ENTERTAINMENT EXPERIENCE


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JURASSIC PARK AN ESSAY


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Over two decades ago, Michael Crichton wrote a book that would end up revolutionising the

film industry in its technology, branding, and distribution scales. However, Jurassic Park was

never just a film; it was and still is a conglomeration of cultural texts that represents billions of

dollars and keeps spreading its wings despite of its age. Through books, films, comics, games,

rides, and much more, Jurassic Park has become a worldwide phenomenon. In 2013, twenty years

after its original record-breaking debut, Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park was re-released in 3D and

did way better than expected – it grossed, in box office alone, more than a thousand percent over

its budget (Box Office Mojo, n.d.). For all this success after two decades, in a business well-known

for its fast-changing grounds and easily-bored audiences, one simple question should not be

ignored: how was that possible?

While Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg were working on a script in 1989, the praised

director asked Crichton about his next book – Spielberg was instantly hooked by the idea of

making a sci-fi horror film with dinosaurs, and, alongside Universal Pictures, eventually won the

fight over Jurassic Park's film rights against other studios and directors (Traldsvik, 2010; Block

and Wilson, 2010). The novel was not yet published when Universal paid the author $1.5 million

plus a substantial percentage of the gross, in addition to a $500 thousand check for Crichton to

adapt his novel into screenplay (McBride, 2010). Raising funds is particularly difficult in the film

industry; it is not appealing to investors being asked for their money to be put in a product that

does not yet exist and can not be previewed. In that case, it is very curious that Universal Studios

was ready to invest in a production that cost estimated $63 million and a water ride of $110

million, accompanied by a $65 million marketing campaign before the promising novel was even

published and the audience tested (Traldsvik, 2010).

In the late 20th century, continuing the gradual corporealisation of the motion picture

industry initiated in the 1960's, giant media conglomerates were once again vertically oriented –

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now in bigger scales – benefiting from several media outlets in broadcasting, communication,

entertainment, and publishing (Johnson, 2011). Now that studios were part of something much

bigger and films were being selected for their cross-platform brand possibilities instead of their

rich narratives, media conglomerates were convinced that they could profit much more

concentrating in big blockbuster films rather than creating a wide portfolio of smaller, low-risk

productions (ibid.). That vision started in 1975 with the success of Jaws, and gained strength

throughout the next 15 years with Star Wars and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (Block and Wilson,

2010). As Steven Spielberg said, "I have no embarrassment in saying that with Jurassic [Park] I

was really just trying to make a good sequel to Jaws. On land" (McBride, 2010).

Films were becoming each time more lucrative through merchandising and licensing, and

less through box office receipts, however, to mega corporations, films were still the strongest

brand identification, being often considered tractors that pulled their much more lucrative brand

extensions (Bryman, 2004). This new model required high-stakes investments that were now

supported by a history of success. Jurassic Park was no exception, and its promising idea seems

to have emerged in perfect timing.

"Jurassic Park's publication in 1990 was an immediate sensation" (Block and Wilson, 2010).

The book instantly became a #1 New York Times Best Seller and thrived on the lists for years after

(Seago, 1993). However, it was not until the film’s release, in 1993, that Jurassic Park became the

sensation we all know today. As stated in TLC's Making Jurassic Park: The Ride, "Never before had

the motion picture industry experienced the magnitude with which Jurassic Park inspired, thrilled,

and terrorised audiences, by making the impossible seem possible" (TLC, n.d.). The

groundbreaking visual and special effects, combined with its engaging story, made of the original

film release a record-breaking smash at the box office, overhauling E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial as

the top grossing film in history, and making $920 million in worldwide box office (Block and

Wilson, 2010).

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Included in the $65 million marketing campaign, were deals with hundreds of companies

around the world to market a thousand Jurassic Park-themed products. The first of those brand

extensions came out in tandem with the film release: McDonald's dino-sized meals, accompanying

Jurassic Park-themed collector's cups (Bryman, 2004). That was followed by deals with game

developers Ocean Software and Sega, who created and distributed Jurassic Park video games for

a series of gaming platforms; comic books distributed by Topps Comics; a toy line distributed by

Hasbro; and much more (Traldsvik, 2010). Sales exploded with the release of Jurassic Park in

VHS, and gathered more than 68 million viewers when NBC broadcasted the film in 1995 for the

first time, representing 34% of all available viewers that night (ibid.). After the brand's extreme

success, Michael Crichton wrote a sequel to the original novel, The Lost World, which resulted in

the film The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997. Together with more games, merchandising, and a

vast list of other extensions, the brand Jurassic Park had already totalised $5 billion in sales by

1999 (Gad, 2000).

According to Thomas Gad, inventor of 4D Branding model, "Involvement and relationships

can be sparked off by providing customers with entertainment. Bringing a smile to people's faces

creates a bond” (Gad, 2001). That bond is more likely to come about and, especially, last when you

surround your audience with content in a 360-degree range. As previously discussed, in the late

20th century, giant media conglomerates brought with them the idea of cross-platform branding,

resulting in a phenomenon termed cross-promotion, in which a brand uses its own products to

promote and sell its own products.

Journalist Jodi Duckett, from The Morning Call, used Jurassic Park as an "example of media

snowball effect" when in 1993, three years after first published, the novel Jurassic Park

reappeared on The New York Times best seller lists and remained there for months, with 4 million

copies in print two months prior to the film release, and even more after its astonishing success

(Duckett, 1993). This phenomenon, though, was not a mere coincidence. Bearing in mind that

there were millions of copies of the book in print before the demand had actually risen, it is clear

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that cross-promotion was predicted and intended (Duckett, 1993). A rise in demand for Jurassic

Park-related content is expected whenever a new Jurassic Park product is released, in whatever

platform. However, even with successful cross-promotion, comparing the brand's moves in

present days to the ones made two decades ago (TLC, n.d.), it is explicit that something has

negatively changed in its release behaviour.

In the genesis of Jurassic Park, Universal Studios invested around $240 million in over a

thousand products before even testing audiences; now, their products are being released

separately, or in smaller packages with bigger gaps between releases (Traldsvik, 2010). While

Jurassic Park's first three films had 4-year brackets in between each other, Jurassic Park 3D came

out 12 years later. The market for blockbuster films and cross-platform media has not changed a

lot – in fact, it has only expanded (Block and Wilson, 2010) – so why has Jurassic Park suddenly

changed its behaviour?

While in other businesses there is the wrong idea that a brand should last forever, the high-

risk entertainment industry has adapted to the notion that a brand has a beginning and an end

(Gad, 2001). The idea behind these time-framed branding projects is that it is more realistic to

work with a brand set to last for five or ten years rather than trying to project your brand on the

infinite; it can then be extended based on demand or even revived after a down period (ibid.).

Even without making huge investments for 12 years, Jurassic Park has still released video

games, comics, DVDs, blu-rays, an app in 2012 and, one year later, the $10 million redo, Jurassic

Park 3D. What raises curiosity about it is that, together with the financial success of the redo came

the confirmation from Universal that the franchise's fourth movie, Jurassic World, was in pre-

production and would be released in April 2015. Its budget? Estimated $190 million (IMDB, n.d.b).

That is more than twice the first film's budget and, in addition to its marketing campaign, should

overhaul the primordial $240 million investment.

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Many people have been fooled by the big success of its 3D rerelease, but what really

represents the revival of Jurassic Park is yet to come. The entertainment industry is indeed right in

giving brands a lifespan – Jurassic Park had one itself. After a decade, the brand started being

more strategic about its releases, and with a diversity of smaller moves, it has managed to keep

its audience interested. However, according to The Hollywood Reporter, what has financially

allowed its comeback is that Universal used Jurassic Park 3D to prime the audiences for the

ridiculously bigger project that Jurassic World is (McClintock, 2013).

On Jurassic Park's prevail, ingenious Thomas Gad affirmed: "Without very well-defined brand

values this would not have been possible" (Gad, 2001). Its infecting cross-promotion, sharply-

calculated releases, and intelligently-planned lifespan can be amassed into one word: branding.

Jurassic Park's tremendous triumph over time is something to be admired and followed by many,

and although strong content and perfect timing is what has made of Jurassic Park a success,

branding strategy is what has filled theatre seats all around the globe two decades later.

Jurassic Park is back, and as its avaricious character had predicted twenty years ago: "We're

gonna make a fortune with this place." - Donald Gennaro, Jurassic Park, 1993.

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REFERENCES

A. Block, A. and Wilson, L. (2010) George Luca's Blockbusting. 1st ed. New York: It Books.

B. Box Office Mojo (n.d.) Jurassic Park 3D [Online]. Retrieved from: http://

www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=jurassicpark3d.htm and http://

www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=jurassicpark3d.htm [Accessed 12 October

2014].

C. Bryman, A. (2004) The Disneyization of Society. 1st ed. London: Sage Publications Ltd.

D. Duckett, J. (1993) 'Jurassic Park' Example of Media Snowball Effect [Online]. The

Morning Call. Retrieved from: http://articles.mcall.com/1993-04-08/features/

2924224_1_jurassic-park-carol-fass-ballantine-books [Accessed 14 October 2014].

E. Gad, T. (2001) 4D Branding: Cracking the Corporate Code of the Network Economy. 1st

ed. London: Financial Times/Prentice Hall.

F. IMDB (n.d.a) Box office/business for Jurassic Park [Online]. Retrieved from: http://

www.imdb.com/title/tt0107290/business?ref_=tt_dt_bus [Accessed 4 October 2014].

G. IMDB (n.d.b) Box office/business for Jurassic World [Online]. Retrieved from: http://

www.imdb.com/title/tt0369610/business?ref_=tt_dt_bus [Accessed 18 October 2014].

H. Johnston, K. (2011) Science Fiction Film: A Critical Introduction. 1st ed. London:

Bloomsbury Academic.

I. McBride, J. (2010) Steven Spielberg: A Biography. 2nd ed. Jackson: Univ. Press of

Mississippi.

J. McClintock, P. (2013) Box Office Report: 'Evil Dead' Rises With $30.5 Million; 'Jurassic

Park' 3D Naps $21.2 Million [Online]. Retrieved from: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/

news/box-office-report-evil-dead-434524 [Accessed 4 October 2014].

K. Seago, K. (1993) Sales For 'Jurassic Park' Still Roaring At Bookstores [Online]. Los

Angeles Daily News. Retrieved from: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1993-05-31/lifestyle/

9305290179_1_jurassic-park-paperback-edition-hardcover [Accessed 15 October 2014].

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L. TLC (n.d.) Making Jurassic Park: The Ride [Online]. Off-air recording. Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD3O3OSMRYA&list=UUnCAENS4x7uRztANI3iBjSg

[Accessed 10 October 2014].

M. Traldsvik, M. (2010) A Sci-fi Movie Lexicon II. 1st ed. Raleigh: Lulu.com.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Bergan, R. (2011) The Film Book: A Complete Guide to the World of Cinema. 1st ed. New

York: DK Publishing.

B. Block, A. and Wilson, L. (2010) George Luca's Blockbusting. 1st ed. New York: It Books.

C. Bryman, A. (2004) The Disneyization of Society. 1st ed. London: Sage Publications Ltd.

D. Crichton, M. (1990) Jurassic Park. 1st ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

E. Gad, T. (2001) 4D Branding: Cracking the Corporate Code of the Network Economy. 1st

ed. London: Financial Times/Prentice Hall.

F. Gorman, L. and McLean, D. (2009) Media and Society into the 21st Century: a historical

introduction. 2nd ed. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell.

G. Jurassic Park (1993) Directed by Steven Spielberg. 127 mins. Universal Studios Inc. DVD.

H. TLC (n.d.) Making Jurassic Park: The Ride [Online]. Off-air recording. Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD3O3OSMRYA&list=UUnCAENS4x7uRztANI3iBjSg

[Accessed 10 October 2014].

I. Traldsvik, M. (2010) A Sci-fi Movie Lexicon II. 1st ed. Raleigh: lulu.com.

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http://lulu.com


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Jurassic Park: An Essay