Jurassic Park set to run and run

WORLDWIDE box-office hit Jurassic Park has arrived in Hongkong and queues formed rapidly at cinemas yesterday to buy tickets to view the long-awaited dinosaurs.

Tickets for tonight's 7.30 pm prime time show at the four cinema circuits were nearly sold out last night while some companies have booked whole showings for their staff to exclusively enjoy Steven Spielberg's blockbuster.

Good public response has prompted cinemas to squeeze in additional shows for the film, which is based on Michael Crichton's best-selling novel.

Manager of Panasia Films Ltd, Winnie Tsang Lai-fun, said: ''We have decided to put on a midnight show at the Majestic and New York cinemas every night in light of today's response.'' Distributor UIP International Services' Hongkong general manager, Cecilia Yau Sui-ha, said: ''We anticipate that the film could show for at least six weeks.'' She expected the dinosaurs to break UIP's record receipts of about $30 million for Ghost in 1991.

Ms Yau said the uniqueness of the topic and the fact it was directed by Spielberg helped the film make more than US$250 million (about HK$1.94 billion) in less than a month in the US and GBP5 million (HK$58 million) in its opening weekend in Britain.

Majestic Cinema's house manager Benny Ho Chi-ming said: ''Queues of 20 to 30 people started to appear around 11.30 am when our cinema opened.'' He expected the movie to run for two months.