“Jurassic World Dominion” stomped to the top of box office charts, scoring a massive $143 million from 4,676 cinemas in its domestic debut.
Despite blistering reviews, the sixth film in Universal’s dinosaur saga is looming large over a sizzling weekend at the North American box office. It’s only the third time in the pandemic era that ticket sales have collectively eclipsed the $200 million mark, according to Comscore. That’s also thanks to the enduring popularity of “Top Gun: Maverick,” which is still flying high in second place.
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Industry analysts are encouraged that the box office was able to accommodate two huge movies over the weekend, viewing it as a promising sign that moviegoing will continue to rebound over the summer.
Even with the near-deafening roar of “Jurassic World,” Tom Cruise’s beloved blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick” stayed strong, adding $50 million from 4,262 North American cinemas in its third weekend in theaters. That’s a huge turnout for any film at this point in its theatrical run, but it’s even more impressive to pull in those numbers at a time in which “Dominion” is also packing a major punch in cinemas.
By comparison, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” grossed $56 million in its third weekend, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” drummed up $32 million in its third weekend, and “The Batman” with Robert Pattinson collected $36 million in its third weekend. With $50 million between Friday and Sunday (a 44% decline from last weekend), Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” has generated a staggering $393.3 million to date. At the global box office, the sequel to 1986’s “Top Gun” has flown past the $700 million mark, with a staggering $747 million to date.
For “Dominion,” initial box office returns represent only a slight decline in popularity; the big-budget tentpole is still raking in huge amounts of money. Of course, the latest installment in the prehistoric series has some Triceratops-sized footprints to live up to at the box office. “Jurassic World,” which rebooted the popular “Jurassic Park” trilogy in 2015, opened to a gargantuan $208 million and ended its theatrical run with $653 million in North America and $1.6 billion globally. Its sequel, 2018’s “Fallen Kingdom,” debuted to a softer-but-still-spectacular $148 million and tapped out with $417 million domestically and $1.3 billion worldwide.
Overseas, the latest “Jurassic” adventure has generated a promising $245 million, bringing its worldwide tally to $389.17 million.
“This is an excellent opening,” David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, says of “Dominion.” “Reviews are weak, but that has never stopped these beasts.”
It helps that audiences were far more receptive to “Dominion” compared to critics, with film landed a sterling “A-” CinemaScore and a bleak 30% on Rotten Tomatoes. Colin Trevorrow returned to direct “Dominion,” which takes place after Isla Nublar is destroyed and dinosaurs now live — and hunt — freely alongside humankind. The movie unites the original “Jurassic Park” stars Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, who headline the sequel trilogy.
Given the enthusiastic reception from ticket buyers, “Jurassic World Dominion” is expected to be one of the summer’s highest-grossing tentpoles, which should result in Universal capping off its commercially successful sequel trilogy with a bang. It’s also necessary to get the blockbuster into the black. “Jurassic World Dominion” cost a hefty $185 million to produce and around $100 million to promote, so it needs to generate major coinage to turn a profit.
“Seeing a title like ‘Jurassic’ on the big screen is exactly what summer movie season is about,” says Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution.
That proved to be especially true with “Dominion” since a significant portion of ticket sales came from enhanced formats, like Imax and 3D. From Imax alone, the film rang up $12.3 million in North America and $12.7 million internationally. In total, premium formats accounted for approximately 25% of all global revenues for “Jurassic World Dominion,” according to Comscore. Since most of the nation’s premium screens were reserved for “Jurassic,” it’s even more noteworthy that “Top Gun: Maverick” (which had been a big draw in Imax) was able to maintain such a strong hold in domestic box office receipts.
“The appetite for the colossal creatures in this franchise is still voracious, and the way audiences want to experience this movie is in 3D,” said RealD’s CEO and president Travis Reid, whose company brings 3D screens to theaters.
In third place on domestic box office charts, Disney’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” added $4.9 million from 3,345 locations. After six weekends in theaters, the comic book sequel has raked in $397.8 million in North America and $532.4 million overseas, pushing the film’s tally past $930 million worldwide. Without playing in China or Russia (two major moviegoing markets), the second standalone movie about Doctor Strange is the highest grossing global release of 2022.
Disney also took the No. 4 slot with “The Bob’s Burgers Movie,” a big-screen continuation of the popular TV series. The film, also from 20th Century Studios, grossed $2.3 million from 2,605 venues in its third outing. To date, “The Bob’s Burgers Movie” has generated $27 million at the domestic box office.
Universal’s animated heist comedy “The Bad Guys” rounded out the top five with $2.25 million from 2,416 locations. Without much competition among family audiences, “The Bad Guys” has stayed in the top five for eight weeks in a row and amassed $91.5 million in North America and $229.6 million globally.
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