‘Jurassic World’ sequel stomps its way to $150M debut

NEW YORK — The dinosaurs still rule the box office.

“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” surpassed expectations to open with $150 million in ticket sales in U.S. and Canada theaters over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. That total didn’t approach the record-breaking $208.8 million debut of 2015’s “Jurassic World,” but it proved the 25-year-old franchise still roars loudly among moviegoers.

It also gave Hollywood its first back-to-back $100million-plus openings in a non-holiday period. After opening with $182.7 million last week, Pixar’s “Incredibles 2” sequel slid 56 percent in its second week, with $80.9 million.

“Fallen Kingdom” and “Incredibles 2” combined fueled $280 million in total ticket sales, making it Hollywood’s fourth-biggest overall weekend, not accounting for inflation. Business was roughly double that of the same June weekend last year, according to comScore.

“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” has earned hundreds of millions in overseas ticket sales over the past two weeks, for a worldwide total of $711.5 million.

The film, starring Chris Pratt and Dallas Bryce Howard, moves away from an isolated tropical island. In “Fallen Kingdom,” directed by J.A. Bayona, the dinosaurs are threatened with extinction by of a soon-to-explode volcano. But they are trapped by a band of mercenaries, a plot intended to mirror real-life animal poaching .

“Fallen Kingdom” shrugged off mediocre reviews — something other franchises have struggled to do lately. It sits at just 50 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes but received an A-minus CinemaScore from audiences.

Universal Pictures plans a third “Jurassic World” film. With audiences equally young and old, male and female, and from a diverse array of ethnicities, “Fallen Kingdom” was a classic crowd-pleaser.

The domestic opening is the second-best for the 106-year-old Universal. It only follows “Jurassic World,” which went on to make nearly $1.7 billion for the studio.