James Cameron Reveals He Almost Directed an R-Rated ‘Jurassic Park’

James Cameron, the director of franchises like Terminator and Avatar, reveals he almost directed Jurassic Park. Michael Crichton’s original novel had been a screenplay first, but when he was turning it into a book, Steven Spielberg found out about the sci-fi horror idea. The Jaws director was eventually given the chance, and he made one of the most famous movies of all time. But if Crichton and Spielberg hadn’t been close, Cameron would probably have gotten the rights to make Jurassic Park.

Speaking to Empire magazine (via Discussing Film), Cameron shared that he almost made the dinosaur epic of 1993, but that his vision would have been extremely different. Spielberg’s version goes heavy on the horror element, but it has a perfect balance between fun and thrills. It’s a great example of a PG-13 film that pushes its boundaries while still being appropriate enough for younger viewers. However, Cameron would have definitely made an R-rated movie:

“He was the right guy to make it. Not me, because I would have made it too terrifying and R-rated. It would have been ‘Aliens’ with dinosaurs.”

Jurassic Park landed in theaters in the summer of 1993. The acclaim was instant, putting Spielberg back on the map after he had faced a strong backlash with 1991’s Hook. Nevertheless, the dinosaur film was unlike anything audiences had ever experienced before. The mix of CGI effects and animatronics was crucial to making viewers feel the impossible had been achieved. Dinosaurs were alive again, and they looked very, very real.

Jurassic Park quickly became the most successful movie of all time when it grossed $914 million at the global box office. The irony is that Cameron would make a movie a few years later that surpassed Jurassic Park in terms of earnings. Titanic wasn’t only the first film to pass the $1 billion barrier, but it became the highest-grossing film of all time in 1997. The title would remain untouched until Cameron himself broke it with 2009’s Avatar.

James Cameron’s Version of ‘Jurassic Park’ Would Have Been “Nastier”

Sam Neill, Joseph Mazzello, and Ariana Richards in Jurassic Park

Universal

It’s not the first time James Cameron has talked about his intention to adapt Jurassic Park before Steven Spielberg snatched the rights to Michael Crichton’s book. In 2012, during the opening of a Titanic museum, he also shared some details about his vision to bring dinosaurs back from extinction. Needless to say, his version of the action-adventure epic would have been a bit more graphic, and we can’t help but imagine what his version of the movie would have been like:

“I tried to buy the book rights, and he beat me to it by a few hours. But when I saw the film, I realized that I was not the right person to make the film, he was. Because he made a dinosaur movie for kids, and mine would have been aliens with dinosaurs, and that wouldn’t have been fair.

“Dinosaurs are for 8-year-olds. We can all enjoy it, too, but kids get dinosaurs, and they should not have been excluded for that. His sensibility was right for that film, I’d have gone further, nastier, much nastier.”