DreamWorks Studios recently acquired the film rights of Michael Crichton’s last novel “Micro,” according to reports.
The novel was published in 2011, a few years after Crichton’s death. It was actually unfinished when he died in 2008, but another author Richard Preston was commissioned by Crichton’s publisher to finish the book. The novel went on to become a New York Times bestseller, spending 20 weeks on the list for hardcover and paperback.
DreamWorks, particularly Steven Spielberg, expressed excitement over the development of the movie adaptation of the novel. Spielberg said, “We are pleased to have this opportunity to develop “Micro.” For Michael, size did matter, whether it was for “Jurassic’s’ huge dinosaurs or ‘Micro’s’ infinitely tiny humans.”
Crichton and Spielberg are no strangers to successful film collaborations, as “Jurassic Park” was based on Crichton’s novel. As most people know, this collaboration went to be a film franchise even after Crichton’s death.
The novel is considered a “high-concept thriller” which follows a group of graduate students lured to Hawaii to work for a mysterious biotech company, only to find themselves miniaturised and cast out into the rain forest with nothing but their scientific expertise and wits to protect them.
Frank Marshall is among the producers, along with Sherri Crichton and Lauren Bouzereau as executive producers for CrichtonSun LLC.
“Michael was exhilarated, passionate and invested in Micro, a story he spent years researching and developing. It was yet another opportunity for him to explore the clash between science and nature, as seen through the eyes of relatable characters. Michael also wrote in cinematic terms and would be so pleased to see Micro come to life on the big screen at DreamWorks,” Sherri Crichton said.
“Micro” is the second posthumous novel of Crichton. The other novel was the historical fiction novel “Pirate Latitudes,” published in 2009.