Dinosaur disaster movie Jurassic World looks set to be one of the year’s biggest films at the box office after experts predicted a T-rex-sized opening of more than $100m next month.
The latest instalment in Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster sci-fi saga about rampaging reptiles on a remote island theme park is due for release on 11 June in the UK and a day later in US cinemas. It stars Guardians of the Galaxy’s Chris Pratt opposite Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D’Onofrio and a brand-new CGI-generated “genetically modified” dinosaur known as Indominus Rex.
The high box-office tracking figures, via BoxOffice.com, suggest the new Jurassic Park movie could be on course to mimic the barnstorming financial success of the saga’s early instalments. Spielberg’s Jurassic Park was the highest-grossing film of all time between 1993 and 1997, when James Cameron’s Titanic took the mantle. A US opening in excess of $100m would put the new film, directed by Safety Not Guaranteed’s Colin Trevorrow, on course to surpass its predecessor provided it also performs well in China.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park also scored decently in 1997, taking $618m worldwide to land in the top three films of the year. However, 2001’s Jurassic Park III managed only $368m four years later after Joe Johnston succeeded Spielberg as director.
Only two films have opened in excess of $100m so far this year: Fast and Furious 7 and The Avengers: Age of Ultron, both of which went on to hit the magic $1bn mark globally. If Jurassic World joins them, 2015 is already looking like a very strong year at the box office with James Bond movie Spectre, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 yet to open.
Publicity hasn’t all been positive for Jurassic World. Avengers director Joss Whedon made headlines last month when he labelled a clip from the film “70s-era sexist” on Twitter. “She’s a stiff, he’s a life-force,” he tweeted of the footage, which featured and encounter between Pratt’s dinosaur researcher and Howard’s uptight park operations manager. “Really? Still?” The feminist film-maker later said he regretted posting the response but said he had been “shocked” at the tone of the clip.
