Michael Crichton's novel Jurassic Park was published in 1990 after going through many changes as a screenplay. Crichton had set a fixed price of $1.5 million for the film rights, hoping to avoid a drawn-out bidding war like the one over his earlier novel Congo. Steven Spielberg learned about the book in May 1990 while discussing another project with Crichton, and he committed to direct after reading the galleys. Talent agents encouraged bids from studios anyway, and Universal Pictures acquired the rights on May 15, 1990, less than a week after they went on sale. James Cameron later said he tried to buy the rights but learned Spielberg had acquired them a few hours earlier. Production designer Rick Carter was hired about two years before filming, and storyboards were turned into animatics using an Amiga 2000 and a Video Toaster to test scenes in 3D. Crichton wrote the screenplay himself, rewriting it in 40-page increments, though Carter later reshaped the draft.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.