While Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park revolutionalized the use of CGI in filmmaking, the filming location provided the ideal backdrop to elevate the story. The scenery of the 1993 sci-fi action adventure set the atmosphere and visual appeal for an exciting tale about de-extinct dinosaurs. Widely considered one of the greatest films ever made, Jurassic Park was released to acclaimed reviews and positive ratings. It won three Oscars among other coveted awards, grossing $914 million during its first theatrical run to unseat 1982’s E.T. as the highest-grossing film of all time — a position it held until James Cameron’s Titanic (1997).
Jurassic Park’s enormous success aided the birth of an enduring multimedia franchise, which has spawned five sequels thus far, beginning with 1997’s The Lost World. With the release of Jurassic Park III in 2001, Universal Pictures greenlit a fourth Jurassic Park film. But then, the project scheduled for release in mid-2005 entered a development hell. This led to the creation of the Jurassic World trilogy, revolving around a functional dinosaur park 22 years after the events of Jurassic Park. From the original Jurassic Park trilogy to the Jurassic World movies, here are where all the Jurassic Park films were filmed.
The Jurassic Park Trilogy Were Filmed On a Hawaiian Island
Jurassic Park is set on Isla Nublar, a tropical island situated off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. While Isla Nublar doesn’t exist in the real world, Cocos Island is likely Crichton’s inspiration for the fictional island. The real-life spot lies on the Pacific Ocean, off the Costa Rican mainland. Isla Nublar in English translates to “cloudy island,” and Cocos Island is the only island with cloudy rainforests in the area. Be that as it may, Cocos Island wasn’t where the Jurassic Park trilogy was filmed.
Due to concerns over infrastructure and access to the island, Spielberg opted to film the movie at a familiar location — the Hawaiian Islands. Most of the movie’s scenes were shot on the island of Kauai (The Garden Isle), one of the eight major Hawaiian islands. This was where the acclaimed director shot Raiders of the Lost Ark in the early 80s. The Jurassic Park storm scenes were real footage of Hurricane Iniki, which struck the island on September 11, 1992, disrupting shooting for a day during the first film’s production.
The Films Also Explored California’s Landscapes
Besides the Garden Isle, some scenes were shot at other Hawaiian Islands. These include the Oahu (The Gathering Place), Maui (The Valley Isle), Ni’ihau (The Forbidden Isle), and Molokai (The Friendly Isle) islands. Several scenes of the Jurassic Park trilogy were also filmed in California locations. For instance, the archaeological dig in the first entry was filmed at the Red Rock Canyon State Park in Kern County, California.
From New Zealand to Australia, multiple locations were considered for The Lost World before filming began at Fern Canyon in Humboldt County, California. This was in early September 1996 with scenes shot in Fieldbrook, Eureka, and the Sue-meg State Park. The scene depicting raptors attacking the InGen team in a field of long grass was filmed in Newhall, California.
Jurassic Park III, the last film in the original trilogy, was also shot at various California destinations. This includes a warehouse in Downtown Los Angeles, El Mirage Lake in San Bernardino County, and a rock quarry in Irwindale. For Alan Grant’s (Sam Neill) lecture about dinosaurs, Occidental College in Los Angeles was used.
Where Was The Jurassic World Trilogy Filmed?
22 years after the events of Jurassic Park, the story continued with Jurassic World, a box office hit that grossed over $1.6 billion to become the second-highest-grossing film of 2015. The fourth offering in the film series utilized locations in the Hawaiian Islands for its principal photography. Shooting later moved to Louisiana with scenes shot at an abandoned theme park, Six Flags New Orleans, and NASA’s manufacturing complex, the Michoud Assembly Facility.
For Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the production crew again traveled to Hawaii. However, most scenes from the second Jurassic World movie were shot at Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath, England. Like the first film, Fallen Kingdom performed well at the box office. It grossed over $1.3 billion against a budget of $432 million. Jurassic World Dominion was partly filmed at Pinewood Studios as well. But a bulk of the shooting occurred in British Columbia, Canada. The movie grossed over $1 billion to become the third-highest-grossing film of 2022. Jurassic Park will return in 2025 with a star-studded cast.
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