Director Steven Spielberg capitalized on a mania among children for dinosaurs by taking Michael Crichton's popular novel with its theme of genetic engineering and combining it with spectacular special effects to create "Jurassic Park".
Slickly marketed with numerous tie-ins ranging from masks to lunch boxes, "Jurassic Park" had taken in more than $1 billion in total revenues. While other movies have surpassed it in individual categories, "Jurassic Park" is the most successful movie/merchandising package ever assembled.
As Variety put it, "No single film has ever generated so much money so fast."
