Box office news: ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ packs potent global bite in opening weekend
The seventh Jurassic Park/World film, Rebirth, landed in cinemas last week in a big way.
Debuting on Wednesday, July 2, Jurassic World Rebirth benefited massively from an extended opening weekend, grossing over $320 million at the box office worldwide.
Film News Blitz’s David Bason takes a look at the film’s early success.
A new cast takes on Jurassic beasts
From director Gareth Edwards (The Creator, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and returning Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp, Jurassic World Rebirth sees a new cohort of characters take control of the franchise.
Scarlett Johansson’s Zora Bennett, Mahershala Ali’s Duncan Kincaid, Jonathan Bailey’s Dr. Henry Loomis and Rupert Friend’s Martin Krebs embark on a treacherous adventure that could save mankind.
The group heads to a Jurassic island filled with test-subject rejects, deemed too dangerous for the original park, and Edwards has embarked on capturing the joys and fears from the 1993 original film.
Surpassing box office expectations
Reports indicated that Jurassic World Rebirth would earn approximately $260 million in its five-day opening across the July 4 holiday period in the U.S.
Instead, the latest dino flick soared to $322.5 million, courtesy of $147.8 million in the U.S. and Canada, and $174.7 million internationally.
This gave Rebirth the second-highest opening in the franchise, behind 2015’s Jurassic World, which opened to a whopping $525.5 million worldwide.
Rebirth follows on from the critically derided Jurassic World Dominion, but its 2022 predecessor still earned big at the box office.
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Dominion, combining characters from both the Jurassic Park and World films, earned $386 million through 10 days, winding up with a worldwide gross of over $1 billion.
It goes to show that Edwards' movie, with its fresh injection of big Hollywood names, looks set to be another success for this franchise.
Critical reception for Rebirth has been mixed, however, and with competition in Apple’s F1: The Movie, and the approaching Superman, reaching Dominion’s $1 billion mark is by no means guaranteed.
Still, the combination of Johansson’s enduring stardom, Bailey’s rise to prominence courtesy of Bridgerton and Wicked, plus Ali’s Oscars pedigree, Rebirth might just have the ingredients necessary to be a summer blockbuster smash.
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