Ian Malcolm (Film Universe)

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Ian Malcolm
Appearances
References
Information
Occupation	Mathematician
Title	Dr.
Significant other	Sarah Harding (Girlfriend)
Children	Kelly Curtis
Nationality	American
Status	Alive
Production Notes
Created by	Michael Crichton
Portrayed by	Jeff Goldblum

Ian Malcolm is a Mathematician from Austin, Texas. He was contracted by InGen to do some preliminary analysis on their theme park, Jurassic Park before it opened. Later, following the Isla Nublar Incident, he along with Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler were brought to Isla Nublar to inspect the island in person. An act of Industrial Sabotage whilst he was present on the island let to the Jurassic Park Incident in which he was injured in a scuffle with a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Over the next four years, Malcolm sought to out InGen for their failings at Jurassic Park, as well as the deaths of Jophery, Donald Gennaro, Ray Arnold and Robert Muldoon. Due to the Non Disclosure Agreement Malcolm had signed prior to visiting the island, his career and credibitly was effectively ruined in a series of lawsuits and media coverups. His tenure was also revoked amidst rumours of Malcolm selling his stories for profit.

In 1997, Malcolm was approached by John Hammond to be part of his expedition to Isla Sorna, Isla Nublar's sister island where the animals were bred and matured before being moved into the Park. Having lost control of InGen, Hammond proposed an expedition to document the animals in the wild, surviving without human intervention. It was his hope that this would rally a cause to protect the animals, not to showcase them. This led to the Isla Sorna Incident and the San Diego Incident following their escape from the island.

Malcolm would be called to testify in front of a Senatorial Committee in 2018 as to whether or not the endangered animals on Isla Nublar should be rescued from the impending eruption of Mt Sibo. He sided in favour of allowing nature to take its course and wipe them out.

Biography

At sometime prior to the Isla Nublar Incident, Malcolm was contracted by InGen to provide theoretical mathematics on their new theme park, Jurassic Park. His results were overtly pessimistic and initially ignored by InGen who pushed forward with the project.

Later, following the death of Jophery in the park, Malcolm was again sought out by Donald Gennaro who was putting together a team to inspect the park. Unsatisfied with Gennaro's pick, the investors also demanded that InGen-backed Paleontologist Alan Grant be added to the roster as well.

The Jurassic Park Incident

Main article: Jurassic Park Incident (Film Universe)

Malcolm along with Alan Grant and Ellen Sattler were chosen to accompany Donald Gennaro to inspect the facilities on Isla Nublar. Traveling via helicopter the group were introduced, Malcolm displayed a jovial attitude towards the trip making several comments and pestering Hammond at several points during the helicopter ride. Upon arriving on the remote island, the small group encountered a Brachiosaurs while on route to the parks Visitor Center. Malcolm was awestruck by the sight of the large dinosaur, it is unclear if he had prior knowledge to InGen’s experiments. Upon arriving at the Visitor Center Malcom, Grant and Sattler were given a brief tour of the buildings genetics laboratory and control centers via the use of the showcase theater, at the persistence of Grant and Sattler to stop the ride Malcolm helped to push up the bars holding them in their seats allowing the group to enter the parks genetics laboratory. Inside Malcolm witnessed the birth of a small theropod dinosaur and upon hearing of the parks genetic alteration to make all cloned animals female insisted that the attempt to control the parks stock from breeding was impossible and that life would find a way. Following the revelation that the small dinosaur was a Velociraptor the group visited the adult raptors in a holding pen. Malcolm watched as a live cow was fed to the adult raptors, at the sight of the gore of the animals feeding he recoiled in fear but could not take his eyes off the sight. Upon the arrival of Robert Muldoon, the parks game warden Malcolm would listen as Grant discussed the Raptors intelligence. Shortly after this the group were given lunch before their tour, during this lunch Malcolm would debate the ethics of Jurassic Park with John Hammond insisting that InGen was being irresponsible. After lunch the group was joined by Tim and Lex Murphy, Hammond's grandchildren and were lead to a set of automated tour vehicles, Malcolm would join Sattler and Grant in the rear tour vehicle for the duration of the tour.

At the start of the tour Malcolm made a comment on the park’s main gate referencing the size of the gate to the one in the film King Kong. Once entering the park Malcolm could be described as less interested in the tour but still joined the other two occupants of his car in looking out the window searching for the Dilophosaurus than his fellow scientists. As the tour arrived at the Tyrannosaur paddock Malcolm grew more interested leaning close to the window to watch for the tyrannosaur. After a few seconds Malcolm compared InGen’s actions to those in the Christian bible. After the tour resumed with the second absent animal Malcolm began pointing out that an animal like the Tyrannosaur could not be put on a schedule like a common theme park attraction. Malcolm would jab at Hammond watching through the camera in the car by tapping on the glass and asking if there would be dinosaurs on the dinosaur tour. Doctor Sattler would question Malcolm about chaos theory which Malcolm would explain to her through a flirtatious experiment of unpredictability. His experiment would be interrupted by Grant bolting from the vehicle. Malcolm would remain in the car as Sattler followed Grant. When the car came to a stop Malcolm joined the other who were examining a tranquilized triceratops, arriving just in time to hear Sattler’s plan to examine the dinosaur’s droppings for West Indian Lilac Berries. Malcolm followed Sattler to a large pile of presumably Triceratops excrement where he had a brief exchange with Doctor Grant commenting on how tenacious Doctor Sattler was, after which he called out to Sattler reminding her to wash her hands before she ate anything.

As the approaching storm grew worse Donald Genaro commented that perhaps the party should return to the cars, Doctor Sattler decided to stay behind while the others continued the tour. Grant and Malcolm would return to the rear car as the tour cars began their journey back to the Visitor Center. After several minutes in the cars Grant and Malcolm would discuss their love lives with Malcolm commenting that he is always on the lookout for another Ex Misses Malcolm implying several previous relationships, he also reveals he has several children. Shortly after this the car stopped working and came to a stop next to the Tyrannosaurus Paddock. Grant would run ahead to the front vehicle to check on their radio which had stopped working. Malcolm was mildly frightened presumably by the proximity to the tyrannosaurus paddock a fear that would shortly be proven justified when the Tyrannosaurus appeared next to the fence and upon brushing against it would escape her paddocks. She would be drawn to the forward car when Lex Murphey activated a large flashlight accidentally signaling the large carnivore. The Tyrannosaur would go on to attack the forward car with the children still inside it. Malcolm and Grant watched helplessly but Grant quickly went into action grabbing a flair and stepping out into the rain, lighting the flair and yelling the Tyrannosaur would be momentarily distracted, Grant threw the flair off into its paddock causing the large animal to chase it. Doctor Malcolm would then copy Grant lighting a flair and stepping out of the car and yelling, unfortunately the Rex was much closer to Malcolm and began chasing him. Grant yelled for him to hold the flair but by that point the Rex was more interested in Malcolm. Malcolm threw the flair and screamed for Grant to get the kids. The rex lunged after him knocking him to the ground near the paddocks bathroom breaking his leg and causing other unspecified injuries he would be buried under the rubble of the bathroom; the tyrannosaurus would be distracted by Donald Genaro which the Rex would brutally devour.

Malcolm would stay in the rubble of the bathroom for quite some time, during this time he applied a makeshift turnicate using his own belt. Ellen Sattler and Robert Muldoon arrived in a gas-powered jeep to search for Grant and Hammond's Grandchildren, during their search they would find Malcolm and move him to the back of their jeep while they continued the search inside an animal paddock that the tour vehicle had been pushed into. While in the back of the jeep he would notice an impact trimmer and call out for the approaching Sattler and Muldoon who would reach the jeep seconds before the Tyrannosaur emerged from the jungle. A chase would follow where the jeep would narrowly escape the wrath of the Tyrannosaur, once they had escaped the Rex Malcolm would jokingly ask if they would have that on the tour. The group would then return to the visitor center where Sattler would give Malcolm a dose of Morphine. Malcolm would remain in the control room where he would be propped up on a desk with a blanket placed over him. He would grow less vocal possibly because of the pain killers now flowing through him. When Ray Arnold shut down the park’s main power system to attempt a manual reboot to restore the parks systems Malcolm would be moved to the complexes emergency bunker with Hammond, Sattler and Muldoon. In the bunker he was again propped up on a table where during the second attempt to reach the power shed after the group in the bunker had lost contact with Mr. Arnold the parks blueprints would be thrown over Malcolm’s injured leg causing him pain. One Sattler reached the parks power shed Malcolm would attempt to give directions but was rebuffed by Hammond. Finally, once Sattler reached a dead-end Malcolm would take the radio from Hammond giving Sattler correct directions to the parks main breakers. After this the two men would remain alone in the bunker until Doctor grant along with Doctor Sattler returned to the bunker where they revealed the raptors had escaped confinement. Malcolm and Hammond remained in the bunker while Grant and Sattler went to get Hammond's grandchildren from the Visitor Center and in the process reboot the parks system in the main control room. Malcolm would mostly stay out of many of the events that followed but a few minutes later while Hammond was checking Malcolm’s wounds they would receive a phone call from Grant that revealed the phones were working, the call was interrupted by a raptor attempting to enter the control room in pursuit of the group in the Visitor Center. Hammond would then call the mainland for a helicopter. assist Malcolm to a nearby jeep where the two men would race just in time to rescue Grant, Sattler and the kids. By the time they reached the Visitor Center it appeared that Malcolm was not doing well. When the survivors reached the awaiting helicopter, Grant would help Malcolm to the helicopter before ushering Hammond into the awaiting aircraft. Malcolm would stay awake as the helicopter left the island watching the scenery in silence.

The Isla Sorna Incident

Main article: Isla Sorna Incident (Film Universe)

After the Jurassic Park Incident Ian Malcolm would be rushed to a hospital on the Costa Rican main land where he would receive treatment for his wounds suffered at the hands of Isla Nublar’s resident Tyrannosaur. After the surgery he would go on to be the most vocal of the survivors which would cause InGen to undergo a sizeable campaign to ruin Malcolm’s Credibility to make his stories appear nothing more than crazy ramblings. By 1997 the events that transpired on Isla Nublar were nothing more than conspiracy theories with few believing Malcolm’s story. At some point in the year 1997 Malcolm was summoned to the home of John Hammond. Upon arriving he was surprised and delighted to see fellow Isla Nublar survivors Lex and Tim Murphey, He would question them to see if they knew the reason he had been summoned only to be interrupted by the arrival of current InGen CEO and Nephew of John Hammond, Peter Ludlow. Malcolm and Ludlow would have a short confrontation where Ludlow would make it clear that InGen was now his business and he would defend its interests. Once Ludlow and Malcolm parted Malcolm would head upstairs to the bedroom of John Hammond. A weakened Hammond resting in his bed would go on to reveal the existence of Isla Sorna known within InGen as Site-B. Hammond would outline his plan to send a team to the island to document the animals to reveal their existence to the public in order to create a sanctuary to protect them and to counter InGen’s plan to exploit the island in order to open a new park to recoup lost funds from the fallout of the Jurassic Park Incident and the recent Bowman Family incident. Malcolm would at first be reluctant to join Hammond’s expedition, instead planning on contacting the other team members to convince them not to go to the island but once Hammond revealed that Sarah Harding, Malcolm’s current girlfriend was the team’s paleontologist. Malcolm would then be angered by Hammonds arrogance and agree to go but instead of a research expedition it would be a rescue mission. Malcolm then left Hammonds home. Malcolm would then go to Eddie Carr’s workshop, here Malcolm would inform Carr that they were heading out three days earlier than planned which resulted in annoyance and anger from Carr. During their conversation Malcolm attempted to use a satellite phone to contact Harding which did not work resulting in Malcolm banging it against the outer wall of the Mobile Field Laboratory moments later Nick Van Owen arrived, Carr introduced Malcolm to the photographer and the two had a brief conversation about the nature of the expedition before Malcolm’s daughter Kelly Curtis arrived. Malcolm would embrace his daughter before leading her upstairs to the workshops design studio, here he would inform her that she would be staying with someone while he went on the expedition. The two would bicker resulting in Malcolm raising his voice, the conversation was interrupted by Eddie Carr calling for him to come downstairs, he left informing Kelley not to listen to him. Downstairs Malcolm observed the assembly of the High-Hide after which he informed Eddie they would be leaving in three hours the team would then set out for Isla Sorna. The team would transport their vehicles and equipment to Costa Rica where they would then hire a boat to transport them the rest of the way. Upon arriving on the island, the team would setup basecamp on a cliff overlooking the ocean before setting off in a search for Sarah Harding. Using a GPS tracking system, the group would follow Harding’s signal until they reached a stream where they found an abandoned bag belonging to Harding. The group would call out for Harding, but they would go silent when a rumbling began from the surrounding the jungle, suddenly a herd of graceful Stegosaurus would emerge from the foliage to graze in the steam. The group was amazed, but Malcolm was not amused stating “This is how it always stars… Oooh Ahh and then there… running and um… screaming.” Malcolm would watch as Nick Van Owen would move forward to take photos and then suddenly be surprised as Sarah Harding scared him. The group would reunite with Harding being surprised to see Malcolm. The reunion wouldn’t last long as Harding would barrow Nicks camera to move forward and take photos of the herd. The three men would watch as Harding approached an infant Stegosaurus touching it but when Nicks camera jammed the infant was startled causing the adults to chase Harding. The group would watch helplessly as Harding was chased by an adult stegosaur. Malcolm would have to be held back by Nick from attempting to help Harding, once it was safe the group reunited and headed back to camp. Harding would attempt to explain her findings to Malcolm who wasn’t interested. Suddenly Eddie and Nick noticed a cloud of smoke coming from base camp and the group would race back to discover a fire started at camp. The group would put out the fire which was started by Kelley Curtis who had stowed away. Malcolm’s priority would change to getting his daughter off the island. He would lead her to the Mobile Field Laboratory followed by Harding. When the three got into the trailer, Malcolm and Harding would discuss Malcolm’s priority’s, Malcolm would ignore her comments focusing on getting Kelley off the island. Their conversation would be cut short by the sound of approaching helicopters. The trio would exit the RV and witness the approach of the InGen Harvest Team. Malcolm’s team would follow the hunting team from a distance watching their operation from a cliff, Malcolm would be disgusted by the actions of the hunters who were brutally incapacitating Dinosaurs. Malcolm and the others would watch as the hunters set up camp and would continue to observe them into night fall. Realizing their goal was to take the animals off the island, Harding and Nick Van Owen would go into the camp to sabotage the hunters, during this Malcolm and his daughter returned to the RV to attempt to communicate with their boat. Failing to establish communication with the boat Malcolm was shocked when Harding and Van Owen returned to the RV with an infant tyrannosaur. Malcolm returned to trying to reach the boat but was interrupted by a panic Kelly who wanted to go someplace high. Malcolm drove his daughter to where Eddie Carr had been assembling the high hide and ascended to the high branches of a tree in the small structure. Malcolm would reassure his daughter that the events happening on Isla Sorna were nothing like the events at Jurassic Park, he would be interrupted by the terrifying roar of a Tyrannosaurus.

Bellow the High Hide the trees would shake as the pair of Tyrannosaurs began their approach to the Mobile Field Laboratory. Malcolm would equip a harness and reassuring his daughter he would be right back he jumped from the high hide quickly lowering himself to the ground, he ran at top speed through the jungle reaching the RV moments before the male and female Tyrannosaurs arrived in search of their infant.

The San Diego Incident

Main article: San Diego Incident (Film Universe)

Relationships

Sarah Harding

Main article: Sarah Harding (Film Universe)

Kelly Curtis

Main article: Kelly Curtis (Film Universe)

John Hammond

Main article: John Hammond (Film Universe)

Ellie Sattler

Main article: Ellie Degler (Film Universe)

Production Notes

Jurassic World

Though the character of Ian Malcolm does not appear in Jurassic World, a prop book, God Creates Dinosaurs is present in the film and features an edited promotional picture of Jeff Goldblum taken from The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

A cardboard cutout of Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park was also kept in the Production Offices of the film.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

On April 25th, 2017, Variety confirmed that Jeff Goldblum would be returning as Ian Malcolm in the as-yet-untitled Jurassic World Sequel. On May 10th, Executive Producer Colin Trevorrow tweeted a picture of Jeff Goldblum's Cast Chair on set.