"Jurassic Park" will roar into IMAX theaters this spring.
The 3D re-release of the Steven Spielberg smash will hit the big screen format on April 5, the same week it debuts nationwide. It will have a limited one-week engagement on IMAX screens.
Starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, "Jurassic Park" was considered pioneering for its use of digital effects when it hit theaters in 1993. The story of a group of scientists who visit an amusement park filled with genetically engineered dinosaurs was a box office sensation and became the highest grossing film of the year, eventually earning $914 million worldwide.
In the film, things take a turn for the worse when the dinosaurs escape and the prehistoric bloodletting that ensues should play well on IMAX's large screen format.
“Jurassic Park was groundbreaking when it was originally released, and The IMAX 3D Experience will allow today’s audiences to become fully immersed in one of the most breathtaking epics Universal has ever released," Nikki Rocco, president of distribution at the film's studio Universal Pictures, said in a statement.
For Universal a run in IMAX theaters could equal big profits. For example, when "The Dark Knight Rises" debuted last summer, IMAX accounted for nearly 12 percent of the film’s $160.8 million opening weekend, despite making up less than 5 percent of the screens showing the movie. That kind of performance is something Spielberg and company could really sink their teeth into.
