The dinos are looking good.
Jurassic World Rebirth stomped to opening-day earnings of $30.5 million in North America, one of the top 20 Wednesday grosses of all time, not adjusted for inflation. The better-than-expected turnout means that the film could now cross $133.5 million million in its five-day domestic debut, including $80 million for the three-day weekend
The summer tentpole opened midweek in North America in order to take advantage of the long Fourth of July holiday corridor. It’s also opening almost everywhere overseas for a projected global debut north of $260 million. Heading into the holiday, it was eyeing a domestic start in the $100 to $120 million range, considering it’s a reboot. Also, July Fourth isn’t known for being the biggest movie-going holiday.
The seventh installment in the action-adventure franchise, from Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Productions and Universal, features an all new cast anchored by Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey.
So far, Jurassic World Rebirth is performing on the higher end of expectations despite receiving a B CinemaScore.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story filmmaker Gareth Edwards directs from a script by original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp. The story follows an extraction team who race to an island research facility that factored into the original Jurassic Park (along the way, they discover a shipwrecked family). Now, the island is inhabited by the worst of the worst creatures that were left behind.
Rebirth also stars Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, David Iacono and Audrina Miranda. Producers include longtime franchise stewards Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley, with Spielberg and Denis Stewart exec producing.
The first three Jurassic World pics, which made up their own trilogy, all grossed north of $1 billion globally, and all opened higher than Rebirth domestically. At the same time, the latest film cost less to produce, or $225 million before marketing. In 2015, Jurassic World opened to a franchise-best $208.8 million, followed by $148 million for 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and $145 million for 2022’s Jurassic World: Dominion, not adjusted for inflation. (All grosses rep three-day openings.)
The first Jurassic Park, directed by Spielberg, opened to $47 million domestically in early June of 1993, not adjusted for inflation — a huge sum at the time.
Spielberg is always closely involved in the production of a Jurassic film, and was particularly so in the case of Rebirth, since it sets the stage for a new set of movies.
Other titles to watch over the holiday weekend include Brad Pitt’s F1: The Movie, which heads into its second weekend after opening to $57 million domestically, a stellar number for a racing pic about Formula One.
F1 flew past the $200 million mark at the global box office Wednesday upon finishing the day with a domestic cume of $77.4 million and $125 million overseas for a worldwide total of $202.4 million.
July 3, 8:15 a.m.: Updated with revised numbers.
This story was originally published July 2 at 2:09 a..
