How Jurassic Park's Author Inspired Joel Edgerton's New Sci-Fi Show On Apple TV+

Warning! Contains spoilers for Dark Matter.

Summary Michael Crichton's influence on sci-fi storytelling led to the creation of an Apple TV+ show that was inspired by his work.

Blake Crouch used Crichton's approach to craft accessible and compelling sci-fi narratives in Dark Matter.

The grounded storytelling philosophy in Dark Matter makes complex sci-fi concepts relatable to a wide audience.

In more ways than one, Jurassic Park's author, Michael Crichton, inspired a new AppleTV+ sci-fi show that stars Joel Edgerton. After its premiere in 1993, the first Jurassic Park film became a massive pop culture phenomenon that inspired many filmmakers and writers to expand the vision of what they could achieve with audiovisual storytelling. However, long before Jurassic Park became the highest-grossing flick of its time, Michael Crichton penned it as a cautionary tale about unchecked advancements in technology and published it in 1990.

Right after publication, the book became a bestseller, but it was not until 1993 that Steven Spielberg's adaptation brought the story to the world on an unprecedented scale. Since then, the late author Michael Crichton has primarily been known for Jurassic Park, even though he wrote many other incredible novels, like The Andromeda Scale, Disclosure, and Airframe. The ones familiar with his other works have often drawn inspiration from his writings, and interestingly, a new Apple TV+ sci-fi show's creator also happens to be influenced by Crichton's distinctive approach to sci-fi.

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Blake Crouch Followed Michael Crichton's Storytelling Approach While Writing Dark Matter

Michael Crichton's Books Helped Blake Crouch Realize His True Writing Purpose

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Blake Crouch, who is not only the author of the original Dark Matter book but also the showrunner of its Apple TV+ adaptation, wrote an essay (via Powell's) explaining his inspirations for writing the sci-fi books. In the essay, he recalls how, for a long time, he struggled to figure out his purpose for writing. That is when he came across Michael Crichton's books. The late author and screenwriter, best known for writing books like Jurassic Park, The Terminal Man, and Sphere, adopted a writing style where he embraced his own curiosity and saw his books as an opportunity to learn more about topics that intrigued him.

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Fascinated by Crichton's approach towards writing fiction, Blake Crouch set out to do the same. As a result, he used complex quantum physics concepts to drive Dark Matter's narrative but ensured that, like Michael Crichton's books, his novel also addressed more immediate and relatable questions that resonated with pretty much everyone. By following Michael Crichton's storytelling style, Crouch wanted to highlight how his readers do not even have to be sci-fi fanatics to care and deeply understand the struggles of his characters.

Crouch's Storytelling Philosophy Makes Dark Matter's Complex Sci-Fi More Comprehensible

Dark Matter Does Not Demand Viewers To Be Science Experts

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In recent years, multiverses have become prevalent narrative devices in several sci-fi movies and shows. To bring more novelty to the sci-fi trope, some shows like Constellation have also attempted to further push the envelope by delving into more complex quantum physics concepts like quantum entanglement, the observer effect, and interference. While it is interesting to see how these shows incorporate real science into their storytelling, overly convoluted explanations and scientific jargon can often make viewers feel alienated.

Blake Crouch's grounded approach to storytelling ensures that even if viewers do not understand the essence of these scientific terminologies, they can still keep up with the show's character beats and overarching narrative.

Dark Matter, too, explores some complex quantum physics theories and concepts throughout its runtime. However, Blake Crouch's grounded approach to storytelling ensures that even if viewers do not understand the essence of these scientific terminologies, they can still keep up with the show's character beats and overarching narrative. This makes Dark Matter a lot more accessible, like Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park.

New Dark Matter episodes are released every Wednesday on Apple TV+.