After weeks in the doldrums, Hollywood finally got its summer movie season back on track, scoring a year-over-year win again as the total of the top 12 films this weekend was a massive 45.7% higher than the same frame a year ago when 22 Jump Street opened with $57 million. There is even a chance that the final numbers on Monday will show that Jurassic World has eclipsed The Avengers' North American 3-day opening record total of $207.4 million, since Universal "lowballed" its Sunday estimate due to the NBA finals game tonight.
Jurassic World is a perfect example of the four-quadrant hit, with an appeal that stretches across demographic categories. The movie’s audience skewed just slightly male (52%), and nostalgia was definitely a factor in the film’s success as 61% of the crowd was over 25 (older viewers with fond memories of the original Jurassic Park films clearly wanted to check out the revival). But the matinees were also well-attended, and given the size of the audience, the fact that nearly 40% was under 25 gave Tinseltown one of its best showings among the under 25 crowd since Furious 7.
Jurassic World benefited from the perks of a being a “spectacle” film with 48% of its revenue coming from higher-cost 3-D screenings, and it set a record by earning $20.6 million from 363 IMAX screens in North America. Jurassic World also set an overseas IMAX record, earning $23.5 million in its debut frame. The megascreens and 3-D showings should help Jurassic World amass a huge worldwide total that could eventually challenge the 2015-leading haul of Furious 7 ($1.51 billion).
In spite of the typical carping about remakes, Jurassic World, which was directed by Colin Trevorrow (who helmed the underrated indie SF film Safety Not Guaranteed), managed to score a respectable 70% positive rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, and the movie earned a solid “A” CinemaScore from audiences. The question is, can Jurassic World catch Avengers: Age of Ultron, which currently has amassed $445 million in North America? Well the next two weeks look like fertile ground for Jurassic World with just Pixar’s Inside Out and the comedy Ted 2 providing any competition at all. July is more problematic with another potential nostalgia-driven revival, the new Terminator: Genisys, plus Minions, and eventually Ant-Man, but by then Jurassic World may be approaching $500 million in North America, though it is way too early to speculate on the kind of “legs” this revival will have.
Jurassic World’s massive bow certainly doesn’t hurt the career of Chris Pratt, who made a huge splash on the big screen in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. With the Jurassic World and Guardians franchises already lined up (and Pratt starring in a remake of The Magnificent Seven as well), Pratt’s financial future appears to be set. How much of Jurassic World’s success can be ascribed to his efforts however is a matter that is open to debate; the Jurassic Park series was never star-driven. Though his movie career is off to a very promising start, the jury is still out on whether Pratt will be this generation’s Harrison Ford or its Jeff Goldblum.
With Jurassic World accounting for 76.3% of all the box office dollars spent this weekend, there wasn't much left to go around. Paul Feig’s R-rated comedy Spy, which stars Melissa McCarthy, dropped just 45% as it added $16 million, bringing its ten-day total to $57 million, while the disaster film San Andreas fell 57.4% as it earned $11 million and brought its domestic cumulative to $119.3 million. The horror film Insidious 3 plunged 68%, while Entourage certified its “bomb” status with a 58% drop from its disappointing opening session.
Pitch Perfect 2, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Avengers: Age of Ultron all posted moderate declines, but all three are nearing the end of their very successful runs. A potential sleeper hit, the Sundance favorite, Me and Early and the Dying Girl got off to nice start in just 15 theaters, though it remains to be seen if the sensitive teen drama has mainstream appeal.
Be sure to check back here next week to see how Pixar’s highly-anticipated new original animated feature Inside Out and the live-action comedy Dope will fare. Pixar’s string of #1 openings is in definite jeopardy if Jurassic World’s appeal holds up.