People love dinosaurs. And they love Chris Pratt almost as much as dinosaurs (more even, if you’re Nick). And that combination, coupled with the fact that it’s a just plan fun an thrilling movie to watch, has meant that Jurassic World has completely stomped and chomped its way through the competition in its opening weekend, and right into the record books!
The Colin Treverrow directed fourth film in the franchise got off to a flying start in the US with $18.5 million coming from select Thursday evening preview screenings alone. Many predicted that this would translate to a big official opening day on Friday, but it blew away even the best predictions by pulling in $82.8 million domestically on Friday alone – officially the third biggest opening day in the US behind The Avengers: Age of Ultron ($84.4 million) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($91 million).
That meant that Universal’s initial estimate of a $100 million opening weekend was completely obliterated as the film – which came with a $150 million price tag – went to score a massive $204.5 million in the US, the second biggest domestic opening weekend ever behind The Avengers ($207 million).
But those are just the US figures. Factor in the international markets, and Jurassic World has now pulled in a staggering additional $306.5 million globally, putting it in the history books as the biggest international opening weekend of all time with a total of $511 million globally, dethroning Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($494 million) and becoming the first film in history to earn more then half a billion dollars in a single weekend. And with that ginormous take, Jurassic World pushes Universal past the $1 billion mark domestically as well as the $3 billion mark internationally for the year, the fastest in history that any studio has ever achieved either of those milestones.
Believe or not though, but some people actually also watched other movies this weekend, though it would appear that studios’ decision to rather have most major titles opening last weekend instead of going toe-to-claw with Jurassic World was a wise one, as there just wasn’t much more money to go around. Last week’s kingpin, the hilarious Melissa McCarthy R-rated action comedy Spy, followed up its $30 million US debut last week, with just an additional $5 million this weekend past. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s San Andreas didn’t fare much better with the table scraps, only pulling in $3 million domestically. Pitch Perfect 2 was the only movie to not be forced down a spot by Jurassic World‘s dominance, as it brought in $2 million, edging it slightly ahead of the lower half of the chart who all had to settle for income just above the $1 million mark.
That leaves the top 10 for the US box office looking as follows:
- Jurassic World –
- Spy – $5 Million
- San Andreas – $3.1 Million
- Insidious Chapter 3 – $2.7 Million
- Pitch Perfect 2 – $2 Million
- Entourage – $1.4 Million
- Mad Max: Fury Road – $1.2 Million
- Avengers: Age of Ultron – $1.1 Million
- Tomorrowland – $1.1 Million
With Jurassic World‘s monstrous opening and the John Cusack starring Beach Boys biopic Love & Mercy managing to edge into the top 10 with less than half a million dollars debut, it means that Cameron Crowe’s derided Aloha has fallen off after just two weeks week and $18 million, while lacklustre reboot Poltergeist 3D also bows out with a $45 million total.
Last Updated: June 15, 2015
