Despite poor critical reviews (a lousy 30% on Rotten Tomatoes), Jurassic World: Dominion was far from extinct at the box office, defying expectations and clawing up $143.37 million.
Audience reaction is kind of all over the place. The RT-certified audience score is 79%. That’s not glowing, but it’s not terrible. On the other hand, exiting audiences gave it an A- via CinemaScore but a less stellar 3½ stars out of five via PostTrak with a 57% definite recommend. (The last installment, Fallen Kingdom, earned 4 stars and an 82% definite recommend.) So it seems like some people liked it and others not so much. So it really depended on who was asked. (Kids gave it the highest rankings, which is no surprise.) Dominion was responsible for 70% of ticket sales this weekend.
This is the top opening for a non-superhero movie of the pandemic, topping Top Gun: Maverick‘s $126.7M 3-day.
A DINO-myte Opening
One of Dominion‘s biggest selling points is the inclusion of the original Jurassic Park cast of Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum together for the first time in this franchise in 29 years!
Dominion is more of a four-quadrant movie and, as mentioned, drew a lot of families. (This installment seems more tailored for kids, as it is probably the least scary out of the franchise.) Maverick, in its third weekend, continues to skew older and is still flying high. Earning $50M, it was down just 44% from last weekend. Its combined total at this point is $393.3M. If it makes an additional $4.5M (and it likely will), it will surpass Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as this year’s highest-grossing movie.
It’s a bit extra impressive that Maverick held up so strongly, considering that IMAX and other premium screens were taken away and given to Dominion.
Check out the Top Five below:
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- Jurassic World Dominion (Universal) 3-day $143.37M/Wk 1
- Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount) 3-day $50M, Total $393.3M/Wk 3
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Disney) 3-day $4.9M/Total $397.8M/Wk 6
- Bob’s Burgers Movie (20th/Disney) 3-Day $2.29M, Total $27M/Wk 3
- The Bad Guys (Universal) 3-day $2.28M, Total $91.55M/Wk 8
Usually, big tentpole movies get a bit of a berth to breathe, but not Dominion. Next week, this dino-fury may get taken down as Disney is releasing another potential blockbuster, Lightyear. That film will appeal to much of the same family audience as Dominion.
Is it possible that the poor critical reaction to Dominion will push that film from the top spot after just one weekend? We’ll have to wait and see.
Next weekend, will you be checking out Jurassic World: Dominion, Lightyear, or something else?
