Dinosaur blockbuster Jurassic World made Hollywood history this weekend after rampaging to a monstrous $511.8m worldwide.
The gargantuan total, the first time a movie has ever opened north of $500m, was helped by a gigantic $204.6m US total and huge $100.8m Chinese bow, as well as $29.6m in the UK. The previous world record opening was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2’s $483.2m bow in 2011.
Colin Trevorrow’s film stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard as employees on a fully operational dinosaur park who discover its newest creation, an enormous genetically modified carnivore named Indominus Rex, has escaped from captivity. It is the fourth film in the Steven Spielberg-created action adventure saga, following 1993’s Jurassic Park, 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park and 2001’s Jurassic Park III.
In the wake of the $150m film’s staggering financial success, it has emerged that Pratt is signed on to shoot a number of sequels, though Safety Not Guaranteed director Trevorrow is not expected to return. “We’re saying if the film-makers agree, we’d love to have another movie,” Universal’s Nick Carpou, told the Hollywood Reporter. “But right now we are concentrating on this movie.”
The film has benefited from a decent, if rarely glowing critical appraisal, and currently boasts a 70% “fresh” rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw called it a “terrifically enjoyable and exciting summer spectacular” in his four-star review on Wednesday, though The Observer’s Mark Kermode flagged up a number of T-Rex sized plot holes.
Jurassic World’s box office success augurs well for an excellent 2015 for Hollywood, with a more than reasonable chance that five movies released this year could now cross the $1bn mark. Furious 7 and The Avengers: Age of Ultron have already done so, and Trevorrow’s film looks to be well on course. Studios still have James Bond’s latest adventure, Spectre, to come in November, while Star Wars: The Force Awakens bows in December.
Elsewhere on the north American box office it was a quiet weekend, with studios wisely keeping their new offerings as far away from Jurassic World’s frenzied giant reptiles as possible. Paul Feig action comedy Spy, starring Melissa McCarthy, slipped from first to second with $16m in its second week for a total of $56.9m, while Dwayne Johnson disaster flick San Andreas pulled in a third-week total of $11m for an overall haul of $119.3m in third. The top five was rounded out by low budget horror sequel Insidious: Chapter 3, in fourth, with $7.3m in its second week for a $37.3m total, and comedy Pitch Perfect 2, with a fifth-week haul of $5.9m for a total of $170.6m.
US box office chart, 12-14 June
1. Jurassic World: $204.6m - NEW
2. Spy: $16m, $56.9m
3. San Andreas: $11m, $119.3m
4. Insidious: Chapter 3: $7.3m, $37.3m
5. Pitch Perfect 2: $5.9m, $170.6m
6. Entourage: $4.3m, $25.9m
7. Mad Max: Fury Road: $4.1m, $138.6m
8. Avengers: Age of Ultron: $3.6m, $444.7m
9. Tomorrowland: $3.4m, $83.6m
10. Love & Mercy: $1.7m, $4.7m
