DATE: Friday, May 23, 1997                  TAG: 9705230682
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ROY A. BAHLS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   45 lines

ROAR OF DINOSAURS DRAWS A THRONG OF LOCAL THEATERGOERS

Young Kyle Brainerd had a good reason for being at Virginia Beach's Pembroke Mall early Thursday afternoon: He wanted to make sure he had a ticket to see ``The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' that night.

``I just like dinosaurs because how they eat people and stuff,'' said the 12-year-old Virginia Beach boy.

The sequel to 1993's ``Jurassic Park,'' the top-grossing movie in history at nearly $1 billion, doesn't officially open until today.

But a number of theaters around Hampton Roads and across the nation got a head start on the holiday weekend with special screenings late Thursday night. Several area multiplexes showed the movie on three screens.

Brainerd and his grandmother, Elizabeth Yanoska of Los Angeles, were at Pembroke Mall just after the box office opened Thursday at 2 p.m. Nearly 60 tickets had been sold within 90 minutes.

``This has got to be bigger and better. There are more effects in this one and more dinosaurs,'' said Yanoska, who had another reason for making sure they had a pair of tickets.

Her son, Michael, a Navy signalman, arrived in Norfolk Thurday morning after a six-month cruise with the Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group.

``I'm taking Kyle to the movie so we'll get out of their hair tonight,'' she said.

Cory Caplan was also at the ticket window early. He purchased 10 tickets for Thursday night because he was worried it might sell out.

``I'm kind of a techno junky,'' said Caplan, 20. ``I'm a computer graphics artist and I have a flexible schedule. So I can come out in the middle of the day and buy tickets.

``I got a group of friends to go. We all enjoyed `Jurassic Park,' and we're looking forward to this one. I love (author) Michael Crichton, and I thought the first movie was a pretty good representation of the book.''

Memorial Day weekend kicks off the summer movie season, traditionally one of the most lucrative for Hollywood. Many insiders are predicting that ``The Lost World'' will be the blockbuster in a summer of blockbusters.

Tickets for Thursday's late shows at the Lynnhaven 8, outside Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach, have been selling steadily since they went on sale last Friday, said manager Rose Arcido.

``I was here for `Jurassic Park,' '' she said, ``so I expect it to be just as busy.''

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