The dinos are looking good.
Jurassic World Rebirth continues to gain momentum at the box office, where it’s now headed for a first-place domestic opening of at least $137 million over the five-day July Fourth corridor, including an estimated $82 million for the three days, despite receiving a meh B CinemaScore.
On its opening day, the summer tentpole stomped to $30.5 million in North America, one of the top 20 Wednesday grosses of all time, not adjusted for inflation. That was followed by $25.3 million on Thursday, which is likewise among the top 20 Thursday grosses numbers of of all time. The better-than-expected ticket sales — should they hold — bode well for Universal and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment as they try to forge a new new era for the series.
The summer tentpole opened midweek in North America in order to take advantage of the Fourth of July holiday corridor. It’s also opening almost everywhere overseas for a projected global debut north of $260 million, if not more. 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 itself isn’t known for being the biggest movie-going holiday.
The seventh installment in the action-adventure franchise features an all new cast anchored by Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey.
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 $180 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. On Thursday, it grossed $6.1 million for a domestic total of $88.5 million.
July 3, 8:15 a.m.: Updated with revised numbers.
July 4, 9:15 a.m.: Updated with revised numbers.
This story was originally published July 2 at 2:09 a.m.