Life finds a way in the Jurassic Park franchise.
Jurassic World Rebirth, the seventh film in the blockbuster global franchise that Steven Spielberg launched in 1993 with the original Jurassic Park, took a massive bite out of the box office over the July 4th holiday weekend, with $147 million in North America and more than $313 million worldwide. The debut also propelled the series to nearly $6.4 billion in lifetime global grosses.
“Dinosaurs, who knew?” Sean McNulty jokes of the opening tally for the fourth Jurassic World movie in 10 years, as the overall franchise shows little sign of fatigue despite the consistent volume of installments.
But while Rebirth proves huge summer tentpole openings aren’t extinct, Richard Rushfield remains “dissatisfied with this box office.” Sure, Jurassic World Rebirth, F1 and How to Train Your Dragon are all pulling four-quadrant crowds. But beneath them lies a dearth of middle-class movies and not enough releases altogether.
“There should be a steady diet of all kinds of things for people to choose from,” says Richard, “and you’d be having more breakout hits.”
Also, in our Monday Morning Quarterbacks discussion: Does a B from CinemaScore, the grade pulled by Rebirth, mean anything anymore? How did 1984’s This Is Spinal Tap sneak into the top 10? And who has the edge in next week’s Superman vs. Jurassic World Rebirth showdown?
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