‘Jurassic’ topples ‘Top Gun’
“Jurassic World Dominion” was the apex predator at the domestic box office this weekend, opening to $143.4 million, according to estimates from measurement firm Comscore.
Internationally, the latest film in the “Jurassic” franchise earned $176.6 million this weekend for a global cumulative of $389.1 million.
“Top Gun: Maverick” declined only 44% in its third weekend with an estimated $50 million to take second place, bringing its North American total north of $393.3 million.
The strong debut highlights the continued recovery of the box office this summer driven by such blockbusters as “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and now “Jurassic World 3.”
“A rare pandemic-era occurrence happened this weekend where we had two blockbusters at the top of the chart instead of just one film dominating,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “We finally have a summer movie season ... after two years where it almost didn’t exist.”
The “Jurassic” and “Top Gun” franchises date back about three decades, which could have lured older moviegoers — who were initially reluctant to return to theaters during the pandemic — back to the cinema. Nearly half of the audience for “Dominion” was 18 to 34 years old, while 31% were 35 and above. With the highly anticipated — and highly marketed — homecomings of original “Jurassic Park” stars Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern, “Dominion” has made a concerted effort to attract both old and new fans.
“Despite the critical thrashing the movie’s taking, this is one of those situations where [there’s a] disconnect between the critics and the audience, for whom just seeing those original characters ... back on screen was enough to get them psyched to go out to the movie theater,” Dergarabedian said.
This weekend is only the third of the pandemic era in which the total domestic box office surpassed $200 million, according to Comscore.
“Dominion,” a co-production of Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment, is the third film in the “Jurassic World” trilogy.
Despite its consistent blockbuster performance, the trilogy has seen diminishing box office returns since the flagship revival film opened to $208.8 million in 2015 — the biggest domestic launch ever at the time.
The second “Jurassic World” movie, “Fallen Kingdom,” launched at $148 million in 2018, while the latest sequel finished just shy of that number in third place.