Jurassic Park screenwriter reveals origins of Samuel L Jackson's iconic 'Hold onto your butts' line
David Koepp first heard phrase on the set of ‘Death Becomes Her’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp has revealed the story behind Samuel L Jackson’s iconic “Hold onto your butts” line.
Speaking to CinemaBlend, Koepp explained that the line came from director Robert Zemeckis when the pair were working together on the 1992 Meryl Streep comedy Death Becomes Her.
“I was finishing Death Becomes Her when I was writing Jurassic Park and we had an ending that was really disastrous at first,” Koepp said.
Explaining that it was the cast and crew's last chance to make the ending work, he added: "As the lights were going down, Bob Zemeckis said, ‘Hold onto your butts.’
"I happened to be working on the [Jurassic Park] script at that time, and I was like, 'Oh, I love that.’”
Koepp continued: “I went back and I typed it into the script immediately, and then Sam Jackson said it. I don't think I ever told Zemeckis that, but that's his line."
Jurassic Park was released in 1993 and quickly went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time after making over $914 million in the global box office, a title it held until the release of James Cameron’s Titanic in 1997.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments