Here’s your estimated 3-day box office returns (new releases bolded):
1. Jurassic World – $204.6 million ($204.6 million total)
2. Spy – $16.0 million ($56.9 million total)
3. San Andreas – $11.0 million ($119.3 million total)
4. Insidious Chapter 3 – $7.3 million ($37.3 million total)
5. Pitch Perfect 2 – $6.0 million ($170.7 million total)
6. Entourage – $4.3 million ($25.8 million total)
7. Mad Max: Fury Road – $4.1 million ($138.6 million total)
8. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – $3.6 million ($444.7 million total)
8. Tomorrowland – $3.4 million ($83.6 million total)
10. Love & Mercy – $1.7 million ($4.7 million total)
The Big Stories
It has been 14 years since the last Jurassic Park movie hit theaters. But its been just a little more than two since the original came back in a 3-D version; probably the last notable instance of a re-release in the format to register as a success. The film grossed another $45 million in 2013, probably from a new generation still reveling in the opportunity to see rampaging dinosaurs on the big screen. It should have been no surprise that an audience still existed for this franchise. But I’m sure nobody in 2001 thought that when Jurassic Park III made $181 million in the U.S. that the next film would make more than that in a single weekend. Nor did anyone in 2015.
$200 Million Dollars In The Making
There is not a lot of perspective to be offered when a film grosses as much as Jurassic World did this weekend. You simply say Congratulations and let the next few weeks tell the full story. Until then, though, let’s just see where Jurassic World ranks in history.
Best Fridays Ever (Including Thursday Night Previews)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($91.0 million), Avengers: Age of Ultron ($84.4), Jurassic World ($82.8), Marvel’s The Avengers ($80.8), The Dark Knight Rises ($75.7), The Twilight Saga: New Moon ($72.7), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 ($71.6), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 ($71.1), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($70.9), Iron Man 3 ($68.8)
Best Opening Weekends Ever
Marvel’s The Avengers ($207.4), Jurassic World ($204.5), Avengers: Age of Ultron ($191.2), Iron Man 3 ($174.1), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($169.1), The Dark Knight Rises ($160.8), The Dark Knight ($158.4), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($158.0), The Hunger Games ($152.5), Spider-Man 3 ($151.1), Furious 7 ($147.1)
Best Openings In Universal Studios History
Jurassic World ($204.5 million), Furious 7 ($147.1), Fast & Furious 6 ($97.3), Fast Five ($96.1), Fifty Shades of Grey ($85.1), Despicable Me 2 ($83.5), The Lost World: Jurassic Park ($72.1), Fast and Furious ($70.9), Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax ($70.2), The Bourne Ultimatum ($69.2), Pitch Perfect 2 ($69.2)
Can you believe we would have to go all thew way down to 27th on that list to find the first Jurassic Park? It started with just $47 million back in 1993, which at the time was the best opening weekend in Universal’s history. That is a fun list to revisit.
Best Openings In Universal Studios History (circa June 1993)
Jurassic Park ($47.0), Back to the Future Part II ($27.8), Back to the Future Part III ($19.0), Bird on a Wire ($15.3), Jaws 3-D ($13.4), Backdraft ($12.6), Death Becomes Her ($12.1), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas ($11.834), E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial ($11.83), Twins ($11.17), Back to the Future ($11.15), The ‘Burbs ($11.10), Smokey and the Bandit II ($10.8), Dragnet ($10.54), Parenthood ($10.50)
Jurassic Park made roughly $746 million in the U.S. adjusted for inflation. So more people will still end up seeing the first film in theaters than Jurassic World, but now we are on a serious watch to see if Colin Trevorrow’s virtual remake can actually take the top spot at the box office for 2015. At least in the U.S. (It has accumulated another $130 million internationally). It has jumped out ahead of the curve of Age of Ultron so $78 million is your designated over/under for next weekend. Spider-Man 3 is the only film on the all-time Top Ten opening weekend list to not reach $350 million. It needs $357 million to reach the original’s initial run. Anyway you slice it, the disasters this year of Blackhat and Seventh Son are distant memories for the studio since between Furious 7, Fifty Shades of Grey, Pitch Perfect 2 (and minor successes Unfriended and The Boy Next Door) plus pending successes in Ted 2, Minions and Trainwreck, this is turning into one heckuva summer for the studio.
Tales of the Top Ten
Melissa McCarthy and Paul Feig’s Spy took an average dive in its second weekend putting it exactly on pace with her last starring vehicle, Tammy, which had $56.9 million after 10 days. Spy has the same. The film still has another week before Ted 2 opens and even it if fails to hit $71 million by next Sunday it will still likely be #3 at the box office with a lot of summer left, so at least $90 million could still be within its grasp. Tammy finished at $84.5 million.
Of the other openers last week, together they may struggle to make $100 million after big drops. Insidious Chapter 3 was hopeful its second week horror drop wouldn’t be as bad. But “B+” rating and decent reviews notwithstanding, it still took a huge 67% drop even if it should have no problem getting into profit. WB’s Entourage also took a 57% I expected it to and now will probably do no better than $35 million, keeping it in the red as another loser for the studio.
The good news for them though is that San Andreas will be making its way into profit this week; the first for Warner Bros. since American Sniper and only the third film of the summer to do so this year, though Insidious is not far behind and Jurassic World should be quickly there as well. Mad Max: Fury Road still needs about another $97 million to be a success. Poltergeist and Aloha both look like bonafide losers and it was reported this week that Disney is going to be taking about a $120+ million bath on Tomorrowland. Their worst since The Lone Ranger.
– Erik Childress can be heard each week on the WGN Radio Podcast evaluating box office with Nick Digilio.
[box office figures via Box Office Mojo]
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