Universal rolled out its highly-anticipatedJurassic World: Fallen Kingdomin theaters last night for Thursday sneak previews, and as expected, it fell short of its 2015 predecessor,Jurassic World.Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdomtook in an impressive $15.3 million from Thursday sneak peeks, just below the $18.5 million thatJurassic Worldearned in 2015, en route to a then-record opening weekend of $208.8 million.Box officeanalysts are predicting an opening weekend between $130 million and $140 million forJurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which doesn’t have as good of reviews as its predecessor but it does have a much wider release.
Jurassic World 2will arrive in 4,475 theaters,making it the second widest release in history, behind last year’sDespicable Me 3(4,529 theaters), edging out this year’s Marvel blockbusterAvengers: Infinity Warby just one theater (4,474 theaters).Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdomhas currently split critics right down the middle with a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, far less thanJurassic World’s 71% RT score. Regardless, it’s the only movie opening in theaters this weekend, and it’s expected to fare quite well, although it has already more than doubled the $170 million budget from its impressive performance overseas.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdomopened several weeks earlier in a number of international markets, to avoid competing with the World Cup, and it has taken in a whopping $450.1 million in international markets. While it’s projected to open with far less than its predecessor, it will be interesting to see if it can still come close toJurassic World’s worldwide tally.Jurassic Worldearned $652.2 million domestic and a whopping $1.019 billion from international markets for a global total of $1.671 billion from a $150 million budget.
The sequel is already on track to earn more than its predecessor in China, after an impressive $111.6 million debut, which is a bit higher than the $99.1 million debut ofJurassic Worldback in 2015.Jurassic Worldwent on to earn $228.7 million in the Middle Kingdom throughout its run in 2015, and given its higher opening weekend, it’s possible that the sequel could out-gross its predecessor in China. Then again, with the World Cup in full swing, which is far more popular in other parts of the world than in the U.S., it’s possible the sequel could suffer in China because of World Cup fever, and the impending summer “blackout” of Hollywood films that happens every year at the end of June.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdombrings back Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady and Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire Dearing from the originalJurassic World. The sequel also brings in franchise newcomers such as Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, James Cromwell, Toby Jones, Ted Levine and, returning from the originalJurassic Parkmovies, Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news aboutJurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’s Thursday box office tally.
