Trivia / The Relic

• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $60 million. Gross, $33.9 million.
• Focus Group Ending: The original ending had the the Kothoga die after Dr. Green sets it on fire. While still receiving positive feedback, the audience didn't cheer at it, so the Kothoga chasing her while on fire before being blown to bits was added, which got the proper reaction.
• Write What You Know: Co-author Douglas Preston started his career as a science writer at the American Museum of Natural History, from which he draws his detailed knowledge of anthropology, biology, and scientific procedures. His experience at the AMNH also informs the setting: the novel's "New York Museum of Natural History" is a ''very'' thinly disguised copy of the AMNH. Most of the descriptions of the Museum, including the shadowy back corridors full of cabinets and crates with unknown contents, are quite accurate, although the AMNH doesn't have any HumanoidAbominations lurking in its depths. Probably.