Dinosaurs Destroy the Box Office ‘Jurassic World’ Sets Record

15 Jun, 2015

Dinosaurs rule the earth again after “Jurassic World” debuted to a dominant $204.6 million at the domestic box office this weekend.

That commanding number, the second biggest opening in history, all be ensures that those pesky geneticists will keep futzing around with Triceratops DNA for several more installments and park-goers will continue to serve as prehistoric reptile kibble.

Universal Pictures and Legendary shelled out $150 million to reopen the park, bringing on Sundance sensation Colin Trevorrow (“Safety Not Guaranteed”) and snagging Chris Pratt to star in the sequel. It has been more than a decade since “Jurassic Park III” and the absence appears to have spiked interest in the latest film. Credit goes to Trevorrow and crew for recapturing that old Isla Nublar magic.

Going into the weekend, it was clear that “Jurassic World” was shaping up to be a box office colossus, but no one was even close to predicting the scale of the opening. Most projections were in the $125 million to $135 million range.

Instead, “Jurassic World” scored the year’s biggest bow, just ahead of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and its formidable $191.3 million opening last May. It ranks behind 2012’s “Marvel’s The Avengers” and its $207.4 million debut on the all-time list of openings. From there, “Jurassic World” stomped across the record books, scoring the third biggest opening day ever, with $82.8 million and shattering all June high-water marks for opening weekend, biggest opening day and all-time biggest PG-13 launch.

“Jurassic World” sucked up most of the oxygen, leaving a handful of holdover films to forage for crumbs. In second place, Melissa McCarthy’s “Spy” showed some staying power, slipping less than 50% to $16 million in its second weekend. The Fox espionage satire has generated $56.9 million in two weeks.

Warner Bros.’ “San Andreas” scored a third place finish, picking up $11 million to drive its domestic total to $119.3 million. Horror film “Insidious: Chapter 3” finished in fourth with $7.3 million. The Focus Features has generated $37.4 million in two weeks. “Pitch Perfect 2” rounded out the top five with a $6 million weekend, bringing its domestic haul to $170.7 million.

“Entourage” came in sixth with $4.3 million, pushing Warner Bros.’ Hollywood comedy to a buzz-killing $25.9 million after two weeks.

Reuters 

Image Kevin Winter/Getty Images

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