22 years after Steven Spielberg first introduced us to the wonders of Jurassic Park and 14 years after the third and disappointing installment of the franchise, some feared bringing it back was not going to work. There would not be enough viewers nostalgic of the magic of those early days, they claimed. And not enough young people attracted to a series they only enjoyed on TV and with their smart phones. But they were wrong, extremely wrong, as Jurassic World proved that the dinos brought back from extinction by the fantasy of Michael Crichton are still very much in demand. And ended up breaking all sort of records. With $209 million earned over the weekend it shattered the total posted by The Avengers three years ago, and claimed the title of top domestic grosser of all times. But Jurassic World can claim for sure a bigger title. With $511 million worldwide the Colin Trevorrow directed blockbuster passed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part I to enter the Guinness Book of Records as the biggest worldwide debut of all times and as the first film ever to pass the once unthinkable half a billion mark in just three days. It opened in 66 markets and was in the top spot everywhere. $100.8 million came from China alone. The U.K. and Ireland were good for $29.6 million, Mexico for $16.2M, Korea for $14.4M, France and Australia for over $12M, Germany for $11M, Russia for $9.4, followed by Taiwan, India, Spain, Brazil, Italy and so on, with Japan still to open. About 50% of those dollars came from people willing to pay extra for 3D or Imax theaters, audiences were mostly male and half of the viewers were under 25. Jurassic World is set twenty years after the events of Jurassic Park and stars Chris Pratt as an animal trainer and Bryce Dallas Howard as a high-strung corporate type in tropical-inappropriate footwear. Isla Nublar has become a large theme park for kids and families not coincidentally reminiscent of a certain Hollywood studio theme park and to keep the numbers up management decides they need bigger attractions, which means bigger dinosaurs. Defying nature and its laws, they genetically engineer the giant Indominus Rex. And that’s when things start going wrong. Victory has a hundred fathers, as the saying goes. That may be overstating the case here, but there are a few people who can deservedly claim credit for the extraordinary success of Jurassic World. One of them is Universal’s chairwoman Donna Langley. Coming after Furious 7, Fifty Shades of Grey and Pitch Perfect 2, Jurassic Park’s success means Universal has already passed the $1 billion mark domestically and the $3 billion one worldwide. It’s a reaffirmation for Steven Spielberg, executive producer of the film who chose Colin Trevorrow to direct even if he had the experience of just one picture (Safety Not Guaranteed) on his shoulders. And although it’s too early to tell if it’s luck or charisma, this represents a big personal success for Chris Pratt, fresh from other big hits such as The LEGO Movie and Guardians of the Galaxy. Finally some credit must also go to the dinosaurs, an attraction as big as superheroes. The losers are instead the film critics: according to the Metacritic website, they gave Jurassic World a score of just 59 out of a 100, which proves that most viewers chose to ignore
their opinion. With numbers like these, Jurassic World predictably chewed up all competitors. Spy, the action comedy directed by Paul Feig and starring Melissa McCarthy and Jude Law, fell just 45% to make an extra $16 million for a total, so far, of $56.9 million. In its third weekend, San Andreas added $11 million and now has a domestic total of $120 million. Fourth place went to Insidious Chapter 3, with $7.3 million and a respectable $40 million total. Next is Universal’s Pitch Perfect 2, with a remarkable total of $170.6 million domestic and
$261 worldwide. Among the new entries, Fox Searchlight’s Me Earl and the Dying Girl looks pretty promising: it took $210,000 out of just 15 theaters. In its second weekend, Brian Wilson’s biopic Love & Mercy moved to the top 10 with a total close to $5 million. Next week, we will witness the debut of Inside Out. It was supposed to be a safe winner, but the new Pixar’s entry will have to go head-to-head with Jurassic World. They may tell you otherwise, but those dinos are never really extinct. Lorenzo Soria