Movie |
Museum | Chicago, Illinois
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Favorite Actor Horror | 1998 | Tom
Best Film | 1997 | Peter
Budget 60,000,000 USD
Box Office Collection 33,956,608 USD
Because the novel portrayed the museum's administration in an unflattering light, they turned the film's producers down. Paramount Pictures offered the museum a seven-figure sum of money to film there, but the administration was worried that the monster movie would scare kids away from the museum. The producers were faced with a problem as only museums in Chicago and Washington, D.C., resembled the one in New York. The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago loved the premise and allowed them to shoot there.
During the post-production process of the film, Paramount kept Stan Winston's Kothoga creature under wraps much like Universal had done with Jurassic Park (1993), with no one permitted to talk about the production or the creature itself.
The movie was originally projected to be a box office bomb due to the movie having no stars and the success of films like Scream (1996) dominating the box office. On opening weekend the movie performed five times higher than originally expected.
Makeup artist Stan Winston and his team made three creatures with two people moving the heads and people on the side working the electronics to move the arms, claws, mouth, and so on. Hyams reviewed Winston's early drawings and his only suggestion was to make the monster more hideous looking. The director also suggested certain invertebrates for inspiration and Winston came up with an arachnoid outline for the monster's face. In the scenes where the creature is running or jumping, a computer-generated version was used.
Creating a creature that had not been seen before was a great challenge for the studio. Based on the sketchy description in the original novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, lead concept artist Mark "Crash" McCreery made a number of Kothoga designs and director Peter Hyams chose his favorite one. The final design had a spider-like head and a fifteen-foot-long body that was an amalgam of a lion, an alligator, and a horse, detailed with reptilian scales and tufts of hair down the spine.
"[Lt. D'Agosta joins the talkative Dr. Zwiezic at the morgue for the autopsy of Frederick Ford] Dr. Zwiezic: Lieutenant D'Agosta, it's lovely to see you under such alarming circumstances. 7 decapitations in one week. Don't you just hate someone who only takes head and never gives it? Lt. Vincent D'Agosta: You're bad, Matilda. Real bad. Dr. Zwiezic: Autopsy attended by Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta, Chicago homicide. I heard your ex got custody of the dog. Lt. Vincent D'Agosta: Is it on the goddamn internet? Dr. Zwiezic: You shouldn't have been late on your ALPO payments. [D'Agosta chuckles] Dr. Zwiezic: We have an African-American male, probably age 55 - 60. Height 5'4" - with his head maybe 6'1". Weight 160, give or take, if you know what I mean. There are an undetermined number of lacerations proceeding from the left anterior pectoral region downwards through the sternum, terminating at the right anterior abdominal region. Pectoralis minor and pectoralis major are separated to a great degree, and there is spontaneous dehiscence. The sternal process has been split and the ribcage exposed. Now for the head. The head is decapitated between the axial process and the atlas. The entire occipital portion of the calvarium and half the parietal process has been crushed, or rather seemingly punched through and removed, leaving a hole perhaps 5 inches in diameter. The skull is empty. The entire brain appears to have fallen out or been extracted through this hole. Lt. Vincent D'Agosta: Any idea about a weapon? Dr. Zwiezic: [Dr. Zwiezic replies dramatically] Something big. [Lt. D'Agosta chuckles] Dr. Zwiezic: The brain is severely traumatized and appears to have been severed at the medulla oblongata. The pons varolii is intact but separate. The cerebrum has been completely separated from the mesencephalon, and... Hey! Hey, wait a minute. This brain is light, even for a man. Something's missing, Lieutenant. Where's the rest of it? Lt. Vincent D'Agosta: We got everything we found. Dr. Zwiezic: There is no thalamic region. There is no pituitary gland. Lt. Vincent D'Agosta: What are you talking about? Dr. Zwiezic: The thalamus and hypothalamus regulate body temperature, blood pressure, heartbeat. It regulates hundreds of hormones into the bloodstream. Don't you agree, Fred? Coroner's Assistant: Yes. Dr. Zwiezic: He never shuts up. Lt. Vincent D'Agosta: [Lt. D'Agosta smirks] Hmm."
"[Dr. Green, Dr. Frock and Dr. Cuthbert discuss the mysterious crates that arrived from Dr. John Whitney's research in Brazil] Dr. Albert Frock: No words from John yet, but these crates arrived this morning. They were supposed to be on a ship, except there was some mix-up in Brazil, and they never made it. They were sent by air freight. Here, here, take a look at this. [holds up the relic to Dr. Green] Dr. Albert Frock: The Kothoga. Dr. Ann Cuthbert: Could be. Margo Green: And what does this God specialize in? Dr. Albert Frock: South American tribe, the Zenzera, long thought to be extinct - They made a deal with Satan to vanquish their enemies. So Kothoga was born - Son of Satan. You have that look again, Margo. Margo Green: Why do we keep financing John Whitney's expeditions? As if superstition were the same thing as science. Dr. Ann Cuthbert: Anthropologists are permitted to believe in myth. It's part of their charm. In any case, our superstition exhibit is excellent box office for this Museum, and that benefits you, as well. Margo Green: Using superstition to bring people to the museum is like hiring topless ushers for the Bolshoi Ballet. Dr. Albert Frock: Well if they did, I might go to the Ballet. Dr. Ann Cuthbert: Do you really think the restoration department could do something with this? Dr. Albert Frock: Certainly, - Possibly even for the opening. Margo Green: What was in this other crate? Dr. Albert Frock: Except for the packing leaves, it was empty. Margo Green: Empty? Was there a packing list? There must have been something in here. Dr. Albert Frock: Crates were nailed shut when they arrived. Margo Green: [Dr. Green begins to notice a weird growth on the dozens of leaves] Strange. Dr. Albert Frock: What? Margo Green: Do you think these are eggs? Dr. Albert Frock: Oh, no. More like fungus. Probably parasitical. Best not to take any chances. Dr. Ann Cuthbert: Quite right. Let's see to having those leaves and crates incinerated. [the two doctors leave the room when Dr. Green begins to think if she should study up on the mysterious growth] Dr. Albert Frock: [from the distance out in the hallway] Of course you can, Margo."
