- Industry
World Box Office June 22-28
Would the dinosaurs of Jurassic World continue to rampage across the universe as they have been doing since they started rolling into theaters a little over two weeks ago or would they finally be sated? That’s been the question on analysts’ minds and the resounding answer has been that there’s apparently quite a bit of appetite left in the not-so-extinct reptiles. Originally conceived by the fantasy of Michael Crichton and brought to the big screen by Steven Spielberg they continue to generate new records. On the domestic front, Jurassic World added $54 million this past weekend and crossed the half a billion dollars mark. It did so in just 17 days, outpacing The Avengers by six days and Avatar by 25. Poor old Titanic needed 98 and although it’s unlikely Jurassic World will go past James Cameron’s two seminal pictures it now seems almost certain that it will carry the title of third biggest movie of all times. 66 territories have generated, so far, $737 million and the worldwide total stands at $1.25 billion. China is doing rather well, as usual: the total there stands at $202 million. The UK is second with $76 million, next are Mexico, Korea and Germany with approximately $35 million each. With Jurassic World still such an unbeatable force, Inside Out was a strong and happy number two for the second week in a row. Domestically, it ended very close to Jurassic with $52 million and is now fast approaching the $200 million mark. Overseas the critically acclaimed Pixar animated movie squeezed and extra $26.4 million out of 42 territories, for a worldwide cumulative, so far, of $266 million that does not include many countries that have not opened yet. Amongst them: the UK, Germany, Korea, Italy and China, the biggest prize. In a year in which it looks like Universal can do no wrong, it was a bear market instead for Ted 2, the biggest new entry for the week. The new chapter of the adventures of the raunchy bear voiced by Seth MacFarlane, who also directed the movie, had domestic earnings of just $32.9 million, close to 40% below the original. Sure, back in 2012 Ted did not have to compete with two box office monsters such as Inside Out and Universal’s own Jurassic World, but still MacFarlane and Mark Wahlberg had higher hopes. Abroad, the comedy opened in 26 markets for a total of $20 million. Domestically the canine drama Max was number four with $12 million, playing well with military and patriotic audiences. The spy spoof Spy, directed by Paul Feig and starring Melissa McCarthy rounded the top five, adding $7.8 million and fast approaching the $200 million mark worldwide. Amongst other holdovers, San Andreas added over $10 million dollars this frame and now stands at over $400 million worldwide. One quarter of that bounty comes from China and then comes Mexico with a very respectable $30 million. With as much money spent in producing it, Tomorrowland will not make its money back for Disney but at least this week it had the satisfaction of passing the $200 million mark. Finally, two movies that have not opened yet in the U.S. and have registered very promising start overseas. The first is Minions: in its second week, the Despicable Me spinoff expanded from four to ten markets and earned an extra $36 million, for a very positive $51 million since its debut. It took $7.2 million in Brazil, a record for an animated movie. And it was number one in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Malaysia and New Zealand. Next week it will open in 15 new markets, including Germany, and then July 12 it will hit the U.S. theaters. The second picture that enjoyed a first and successful run abroad in the last few days is Terminator: Genisys. It took a modest $8.3 million, but it came from just ten smaller markets in Scandinavia, Latin America and Asia. And they all scored well ahead of Salvation, the latest installment of the series originally conceived by James Cameron. The new Terminator stars Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney and J.K. Simmons; and then there is Arnold Schwarzenegger, the ex-Governator has been promising for years he will be back. This time it looks like he will. Lorenzo Soria