Jurassic Park III's First Draft Didn't Forget the Series' Most Important Character

Jurassic Park III was one of the more divergent entries of the series. But even its earliest versions knew who the most important character was.

The Jurassic Park franchise has wowed audiences for decades and showed the wonder and terror that can come from tampering with genetic power. But more than anything, the characters and dinosaurs have pulled audiences in. This was best shown in the original Jurassic Park with its leads, Dr. Grant, Dr. Malcolm and Dr. Sattler, who have all returned, in some capacity, in future installments. But unlike the others, none have ever been as unlucky as Dr. Grant, who spent most of his time as a paleontologist, running from the living versions of the creatures he studied.

While it's hard to compare which movie had the more traumatizing events for Dr. Grant, Jurassic Park III had to be high on the list as it took the otherwise passive character and put him in a leadership role. This was something that was even tied into the original draft of Jurassic Park III, which went through some revisions before the finished product hit theaters. But the best part of each draft was that it never forgot Dr. Grant and why he's always been Jurassic Park's most important character.

Jurassic Park III's First Draft Wasn't Too Different From the Theatrical Cut

As explained in Jurassic Park: The Ultimate Visual History, many broad strokes survived the early drafts of the script to principal photography. However, one idea that was altered was the death of Billy, as well as the idea to switch Eric from being stranded with Dr. Grant to being the child lost while parasailing. Ultimately, this idea proved to be a smart one because it offered more significant stakes for the Kirbys to go out of their comfort zone to save their child. Even still, the one thing that remained constant was Dr. Grant and his reason for traveling back to the islands.

In the first draft of Jurassic Park III, Dr. Grant had a part to play in a hearing about what country Isla Sorna and Isla Nublar would go to, as the attacks that stemmed from it were a world issue. While this aspect of the story was omitted from the finished product, the plan to have Dr. Grant agree to the trip to fund his research remained. From there, it was fairly similar to what hit theaters as Dr. Grant tried to get the other survivors to safety. But the most significant change came in the now famous alternate ending where Dr. Grant would remain on the island with the dinosaurs, likely to study and understand them from a new perspective. Even though this ending was perfect for the character, the final cut that had Dr. Grant surviving was just as crucial because it showed how far he would go to survive and save those with him.

Dr. Grant Has Always Been Jurassic Park's Most Important Character

In the original Jurassic Park, Dr. Grant was a man who put his research first and would've done anything to better understand the creatures that had long since been extinct. With the promise of his research being backed, he joined Dr. Sattler and John Hammond in Jurassic Park, where he became an unlikely father figure to Lex and Tim. It was through these children that Dr. Grant learned he could be a leader and a comforting person in the face of danger and chaos. His intelligence on dinosaurs also allowed him to combat these creatures and evade them in ways that saved those closest to him. This same intelligence and experience shined even further in Jurassic Park III.

Unlike Jurassic Park, where Dr. Grant was more a victim of technology and the dinosaurs of the island, Jurassic Park III had Dr. Grant become a victim of humans, with the Kirby family tricking him and Billy. With a false promise that the Kirbys would pay Dr. Grant to continue studying raptors, they tricked him into being their guide on Isla Sorna. What was meant to be a secret tour of the island was actually a rescue mission to find Eric Kirby. In his time on a foreign island, Dr. Grant managed to get Eric and the other survivors to safety and defend them from a pack of dangerous Velociraptors.

Jurassic World: Dominion was the culmination of two generations of characters colliding in a final battle for survival. Dr. Grant, like always, was coerced into a situation greater than himself that got him and his friends, Dr. Sattler and Dr. Malcolm, caught in a dangerous situation. As he tried to navigate the Biosyn facility he and his friends infiltrated, they encountered the deadly Giganotosaurus and Dimetrodon, which were new to the franchise but nothing compared to the bravery and quick thinking of Dr. Grant. His actions further solidified that without him, a lot fewer people would've survived against the dinosaurs.

Jurassic Park III Never Lost The Magic of the First Two Movies

Jurassic Park III was unique to all the other movies that made up the franchise because it was the most straightforward of them all. The themes of genetic power and playing God remained but took a backseat to surviving the island and its creatures. As a result, Jurassic Park III was more of an action-survival movie that had minor elements of sci-fi horror. But even though the genre focus shifted, it still maintained some important elements that made the others so beloved.

Jurassic Park III never forgot the wonder and excitement that made the previous movies so special and, most importantly, took the time to make note of the things that made it special. For example, the idea of Billy stealing the raptor eggs showed that humans should respect all forms of nature and never treat living creatures as an attraction. It also captured, through the abandoned InGen facility, that playing God and taking risks would only lead to uncontrollable chaos, which was exactly why Dr. Grant was caught in the situation he was in. Nevertheless, intelligence and cool heads always prevailed, as even back in Jurassic Park III, it was clear that Dr. Alan Grant would always be Jurassic Park's most important character.