The ‘Jurassic Park IV’ that could have been: Dinosaur-human hybrids?!

Despite the fact that nobody has really asked for it, Hollywood has been hard at work developing a fourth "Jurassic Park" movie for quite some time now. It's hard to believe that the last film in the series (directed by "Captain America's" Joe Johnston) hit theatres more than a decade ago, but that film's poor reception is part of the reason why there hasn't been a new "Jurassic Park" movie since 2001.

Things haven't been looking up for the "dinosaurs gone wild" property in the years since, either, with "Jurassic Park IV's" lengthy development process mostly being attributed to the fact that the pitched concepts for the sequel have been pretty terrible so far. For proof of this, you need only take a look at some of this weird "Jurassic Park IV" concept art by artist Carlos Huante that recently emerged online.

See also: Brandon Cronenberg talks to Yahoo! about 'Antiviral'

The images are based on a "JP4" script treatment by writers John Sayles ("Eight Men Out") and William Monahan ("The Departed"), which featured genetically engineered dinosaur-human-dog hybrids that are trained as mercenaries by an arms manufacturer. Yes, the preceding sentence was actually the concept for "Jurassic Park IV" at one point. However, the "dinos with guns" idea was quickly abandoned, according to Huante, as soon as studio executives got a look at it.

It's impressive art, but the whole idea of dino-human hybrids (with guns) is a little out there — even by dinosaur-cloning "Jurassic Park" standards. It's not a surprise that the idea was nipped in the bud.

See also: 'Mythbusters' proves Jack might have survived 'Titanic'

So if dino-man-dog soldiers are out, what is "Jurassic Park IV" actually going to be about? Producers Steven Spielberg (who directed the first two movies) and Kathleen Kennedy, as well as rumoured director Joe Johnston, maintain that the film is still happening, but have been mum on details. Part of the reason for that might be because the latest version of script (which is being penned by "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" writing duo Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver) still isn't finished.

Actors Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern have both expressed interest in reprising the respective roles of doctors Ian Malcolm and Ellie Sadler in a fourth "Jurassic Park" movie, but without a script there's no way to tell if the characters would even be involved in the story. At this point, "Jurassic Park IV" is still very much in development, so it could be a few years before we find out anything concrete.

Let's just hope that "dinosaurs with guns" concept doesn't make the cut.