That marks the second largest domestic opening of all-time trailing 2012’s The Avengers which did $207.4M. While Jurassic World was always expected to open huge, it was not expected to reach this stratosphere as the three-day tally was a good $60M or so above the most optimistic industry predictions. The massive launch began with a stellar $82.6M on Friday’s opening day which included $18.5M from Thursday night pre-shows starting at 7pm. Saturday fell by 16%, a reasonable amount considering this is a tentpole sequel, and added $69.7M in sales. Universal projected a 25% dip on Sunday to $52.3M but with numbers this high, the final figures should sway a bit one way or the other. The PG-13 smash averaged a giant $47,871 per location from 4,274 theaters.
Jurassic World was always looked at as being one of the top blockbusters of the summer. Moviegoer polls last December for what 2015 films people were most anticipating had the dinopic up there very high along with Avengers and Star Wars sequels. That was quite impressive given that the franchise has been dormant for 14 years. Audience love for nostalgia and the big scale summer escapism that Jurassic Park films promise were among the reasons why grosses swelled so high with a broad popcorn crowd. And the latest visual effects made those dinosaurs look more realistic than ever before.
In fact, Jurassic World opened better than all three previous Jurassic Park films – combined! And it made more in three days than the last installment, 2001’s Jurassic Park III, did in its entire run. Much has changed over the decades. However, when estimating admissions, Jurassic World sold about 22 million tickets this weekend which was up a staggering 80% over the roughly 12 million tickets sold by Jurassic Park during its record setting opening this very weekend in 1993.
Reviews were not spectacular, but they were good enough to draw people in. On the other hand, paying audiences have been really loving the Chris Pratt-led flick as all audience metrics have been very high including a solid A grade from CinemaScore. With more and more schools starting summer vacations everyday, and no action competition next weekend, the road ahead looks bright for Jurassic World which will try to reach the $450-500M range from North America alone. Studios knew this would be a juggernaut so they mostly avoided programming any big movies against the first two weekends of World. Pixar’s Inside Out which is milder entertainment is the only other major title slotted into this two-week period. Studio data showed that the audience was 52% male, 61% 25 and older, and 54% white.
Overseas, Jurassic World amassed an estimated $307.2M which ranks as the second largest in history just behind the $312M of the final Harry Potter film. World‘s first weekend included China but not Japan, Potter’s included Japan but not China which opened later. Both films featured 3D and IMAX. World’s top overseas market by far was China with $100.8M over five days. At the current pace, Jurassic World may end up being Hollywood’s third $1.4 billion-plus grossing superhit in as many months following April’s Furious 7 ($1.51B) and May’s Avengers: Age of Ultron ($1.36B with more to come). These are sky high benchmarks that will be challenged this holiday season by Star Wars: The Force Awakens which will cap off what should be a record box office year.
Far back in second place, but holding up well in its sophomore frame, was the R-rated comedy Spy with an estimated $16M declining by just 45%. The Melissa McCarthy hit is playing well as an option for adults who do not want to be terrorized by genetically-modified dino-organisms. Fox has collected $56.9M to date and could be headed for the $100M mark. Next weekend again will have no major direct competition.
The disaster film San Andreas took a direct hit from Jurassic World and tumbled 57% this weekend to an estimated $11M. Budgeted at about $110M, the Warner Bros. pic has grossed $119.3M to date from North America on its way to about $140M. Global stands now at $373M. Horror threequel Insidious: Chapter 3 fell a steep 68% in its sophomore scare to an estimated $7.3M. The $10M thriller (expensive by micro-budgeted fright film standards) has taken in a solid $37.4M so far.
The year’s biggest comedy hit Pitch Perfect 2 dipped only 21% in its fifth frame to an estimated $6M. It was the lowest drop in the top ten, but was helped by drive-in double features with studio stablemate Jurassic World. Still, the Universal hit has grossed $170.7M domestically and a stellar $262M worldwide.
A pair of very different Warner Bros. titles followed. Entourage dropped a sharp 58% in its second weekend to an estimated $4.3M for a $25.9M cume to date. Action hit Mad Max: Fury Road took in an estimated $4.1M, down 47%, giving the well-liked adventure $138.6M. It’s now the highest grossing R-rated action-adventure in the eight years since 300 came out in 2007 beating films like Lucy, Wanted, and Prometheus. Worldwide is now a potent $334M.
Disney’s summer kickoff film Avengers: Age of Ultron was off 43% against the dino competition and banked an estimated $3.6M for the weekend. Domestic rose to $444.7M while the worldwide tally now sits at $1.36 billion. The studio’s big-budget misfire Tomorrowland dropped 53% to an estimated $3.4M giving the George Clooney pic only $83.6M.
The well-reviewed Beach Boys indie Love & Mercy popped in the nationwide top ten at number ten with an estimated $1.8M from 573 locations for a $3,082 average and $4.8M cume for Roadside Attractions.
After winning both the jury and audience awards at Sundance this year, the coming-of-age comedy Me and Earl, and the Dying Girl debuted in limited release this weekend bowing to an estimated $210,000 from 15 theaters for a $14,000 average. Earning good reviews, the PG-13 teen tale will expand to more markets each week and will be nationwide by July 1 aiming to be a specialty alternative to all the mindless popcorn fare studios fill multiplexes with during the summer.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $262.2M which was up a sharp 48% from last year when 22 Jump Street opened at number one with $57.1M; and up 36% from 2013 when Man of Steel debuted in the top spot with a then-June-record of $116.6M.
