Last weekend, T-Rexes were tall enough to wipe the F-18s from the skies, as the new Jurassic film made sure that Top Gun is not quite on top anymore.

Jurassic World: Ein Neues Zeitalter (Jurassic World: Dominion) made an impressive debut in both, Austria and Germany, surpassing Top Gun: Maverick and putting the Tom Cruise starrer in second place. The Jurassic film was the first mega-production to shoot during the first year of the pandemic. When the HFPA last spoke to star Bryce Dallas Howard at the beginning of July 2020, she was in quarantine in London, ready to start the film, and told us: “The methodology of how we’re shooting, there’s a lot of block shooting, a lot of long lenses so people are not getting close to one another. They basically took the guidelines and pumped the guidelines full of steroids and just maximum effort in terms of making sure that everybody is safe. Because this is the entertainment industry, we’re not saving lives, we shouldn’t be risking lives. And so that’s really our shared ethos and there’s just a lot of communicating, we’re all overcommunicating with one another. I woke up this morning to texts from Jeff Goldblum, from Laura Dern, from Sam Neill, from Chris Pratt, from DeWanda Wise, just blowing up my phone this morning and it’s amazing. So, it really is a very bonding experience and it’s just one big trust exercise.” The efforts clearly paid off, and for a movie shot under the most difficult circumstances the debut at the top of the charts must feel especially sweet.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was in number three and proves its staying power after its five weeks in cinemas.

Another impressive debut was Belle, the anime film that has garnered exceptional reviews and was the third most successful film in Japan in 2021 after premiering that year in Cannes. Directed by Mamoru Hosoda, the creator of Summer Wars and The Girl Who Jumped Through Time it tells the story of 17-year-old student Suzu Naito who is suffering from early childhood trauma when her mother died after a selfless act of love. Suzu turned more and more inward, stopped singing, and would not even open up to her father anymore. When her best friend convinces her to join a virtual world group called „U“ with five million other users, her life changes dramatically.

In fifth place is Fantastische Tierwesen 3: Dumbledores Geheimnisse (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore), followed by Mia and Me – Das Geheimnis von Centopia (Mia and Me – The Secret of Centopia), Dog and Immenhof – Das Grosse Versprechen (Immenhof – The Big Promise). Paw Patrol: Jet to the Rescue – Rettung im Anflug and The Lost City – Das Geheimnis der Verlorenen Stadt round out the German top 10.

Austria differs only slightly with Belle slipping into third place and Die Biene Maja – Das Geheime Königreich (Maja, the Bee – The Golden Orb), and Geschichten vom Franz staying in place at the expense of Fantastic Beasts and The Lost City, no longer in the top ten.