(AP) — Dinosaur fatigue may be a theme in “Jurassic World Rebirth,” but moviegoing audiences don’t seem to have that reservation. The newest installment in the “Jurassic World” franchise ruled the Fourth of July holiday box office with a global, five-day launch of $318.3 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The Universal Pictures release, directed by Gareth Edwards, opened on Wednesday and earned $147.3 million in its first five days in 4,308 North American theaters. An estimated $91.5 million of that comes from the traditional “three day” weekend, which includes the Friday holiday, Saturday and projected Sunday ticket sales.
Internationally, it opened in 82 markets including China, adding $171 million to the opening total. According to the studio, $41.5 million of that came from China alone, where it played on 65,000 screens, 760 of which were IMAX. It’s the country’s biggest MPA (Motion Picture Association) opening of the year.
“It’s just a tremendous result,” said Jim Orr, who oversees domestic distribution for Universal. “‘Jurassic World Rebirth is exactly what audiences crave during the summer: a very big, fun, extraordinarily well-done adventure.”
“Jurassic World” was missing from IMAX screens domestically (due to a commitment to continue showing “F1”), but it thrived on the premium large format screens where it played. One of those options was Dolby Cinema, where it made nearly $8 million from only 167 screens in five days.
“Rebirth,” starring Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey, is the fourth movie in the “Jurassic World” series and the seventh since Steven Spielberg’s original Michael Crichton adaptation stormed theaters in the summer of 1993. The new film received mixed reviews from critics, carrying a 51% on Rotten Tomatoes, and B CinemaScore from opening weekend audiences.
The studio was struck by the broad audience turnout, from ages eight to 80, and the fact that the film exceeded estimates at every step despite the reviews.
“The word of mouth on it is stellar,” Orr said. “And it should point to a very long run throughout the summer as well.”
Factors like the holiday weekend, inflation and post-COVID moviegoing realities make it difficult to fairly compare the “Rebirth” launch to the other films in the “Jurassic World” franchise, the first of which opened to $208 million domestically in 2015. The other two, “Fallen Kingdom” and “Dominion” opened to $148 million and $145 million respectively.
“Jurassic World Rebirth” introduced a new main cast to the series and brought back a familiar voice in “Jurassic Park” screenwriter David Koepp to guide the story about a dangerous hunt for dinosaur DNA (not for making dinosaurs this time, but for curing heart disease). It cost a reported $180 million net to produce, not including marketing and promotion costs.
The campaign was far reaching, including a global press tour, with stops everywhere from London to Seoul, integrated marketing across NBC Universal platforms and brand tie-ins with everything from Jeep and 7-11 to Johansson’s skincare line.
No major new films dared go up against the dinosaurs, who left last week’s champion, the Brad Pitt racing movie “F1,” in the dust. “F1” fell a modest 54% in its second weekend with $26.1 million, helping bring its domestic total to $109.5 million. It continues to play on IMAX screens with accounted for $7.6 million of the North American weekend ticket sales. Globally, it’s nearing $300 million with a running total of $293.6 million.
Third place went to Universal’s live-action “How to Train Your Dragon,” which earned $11 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its domestic total to $224 million. Disney and Pixar’s “Elio” landed in fourth place with $5.7 million. Globally, “Elio” has just crossed $96 million in three weekends. “28 Years Later” rounded out the top five with $4.6 million.
A 41-year-old movie also made the domestic top 10: The re-release of Rob Reiner’s 1984 film “This is Spinal Tap.”
Having the Fourth of July land on a Friday could have negatively impacted the overall box office, but the holiday didn’t blow up the weekend’s earnings.
“We had a solid Friday despite some pretty heavy competition from the fireworks,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore.
And there’s still some major movies to come in the packed summer movie calendar, including “Superman,” which opens later this week.
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