22 years after Jurassic Park, and 65 million years since their extinction, dinosaurs have still got it.
[dropcap size=small]J[/dropcap]urassic World has exceeded all expectations to become the first movie to make over half-a-billion dollars worldwide in its opening weekend. According to the Wall Street Journal, the film, which stars Chris Pratt as the latest park ranger to oversee a dinosaur breakout, has made $204.6 million domestically, which makes it the best opening weekend of the year in North America, knocking Avengers: Age of Ultron off the top spot. Only the first Avengers movie ($207.4) made more in its first weekend.
The film itself has received a mixed response. While some consider it a worthy sequel to Steven Spielberg’s original, others have suggested that Jurassic Park nostalgia masks the fact that as a standalone movie, Jurassic World is just a generic summer blockbuster. It has a modest 70% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where critics are calling it visually stunning and easy to watch, but just as easy to pick apart.
Universal Pictures won’t mind one bit what the critics are saying as long as their profit continues to rise. Jurassic World has already made $50 million more than anticipated, and although there’s no word on future Jurassic projects just yet, it’s no surprise that Universal have come out and said ‘we’d really love to have another one.’
Jurassic World, directed by Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed), is currently in cinemas worldwide.
