“Jurassic World Dominion” is the new apex predator at the box office.
Universal’s dino sequel is expected to earn $ 142.6 million from 4,676 North American theaters over the weekend, marking the highest national opening for a non-film be superheroes since COVID-19 locks were first introduced. This shatters the $ 126 million benchmark set for the debut of “Top Gun: Maverick” just two weeks ago.
After taking home $ 18 million in previews on Thursday, Universal had projected the sixth installment of the “Jurassic Park” franchise to earn $ 132.5 million over the weekend.
Going back to the 1993 Steven Spielberg original, which was the highest grossing national box office ever since its release, the “Jurassic Park” franchise has a historic box office legacy. The previous two films, “Jurassic World” in 2015 and the sequel “Fallen Kingdom” in 2018, debuted with $ 208 million and $ 150 million, respectively.
With a production price of $ 185 million before marketing and distribution costs, “Jurassic World Dominion” will have to pursue a career as a box office giant to see the green.
“Jurassic World” director Colin Trevorrow returns to the franchise, following his family and suburban thriller “The Book of Henry.” “Dominion” joins original stars Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern with new-era headliners Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard along with newcomer to the DeWanda Wise series.
Critics did not like “Dominion” very much, as the film received 21% approval from leading Rotten Tomatoes critics. However, the public seems more receptive, as is usually the case with the franchise. The dino sequel received an “A-” rating from CinemaScore, indicating a strong response from general ticket buyers. While this grand opening weekend is generally proving to be a critical issue, it remains to be seen how word of mouth will arrive in the coming weeks.
In the Variety review, chief film critic Peter Debruge bowed out more kindly than most of his peers, and wrote that “Dominion” is closer to the sequels in dealing with the dreaded threat of coexistence between humans and dinosaurs “from the” Jurassic “franchise.
While “Top Gun: Maverick” is taking a bite out of losing premium format movies to “Dominion,” the Tom Cruise sequel continues to fly steadily. The release of Paramount is expected to earn $ 50 million its third weekend at the national box office, marking an impressive 44% drop in its second-year release. This figure would also place the film among the top ten box office weekends in the history of the national box office.
With “Maverick” close to $ 400 million nationally, it seems likely that the film will surpass “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” as the highest grossing release of the year at the national box office sometime this week. coming.
Speaking of “Doctor,” the Marvel superhero sequel appears to have won bronze on the national charts over the weekend after earning an additional $ 1.3 million on Friday. “Multiverse of Madness” is expected to add an additional $ 4.8 million over the weekend to expand its U.S. revenue to $ 397 million, close to exceeding $ 400 million.
Disney’s “The Bob’s Burgers Movie” and 20th Century Studios appear to be in fourth place, projecting a 51% drop to earn $ 2.2 million. The animation release expanded its gross domestic dollar by $ 25 million on Friday. While the film has had a modest box office performance, it hasn’t been broken in a way that indicates it’s reaching a lot of viewers outside of the long-running animated series fan base.
Universal’s “The Bad Guys” is expected to complete the top five, expanding its internal collection to $ 91 million by Sunday. After opening with a modest $ 24 million eight weeks ago, the DreamWorks Animation production has multiplied its debut by 3.8, benefiting from the lack of family rates at the box office. This race will end next week, with the opening of Pixar’s Disney “Lightyear” nationwide.