Look, we all had a feeling that Jurassic World was going to go over big. It’s been 14 years since the last entry in the series—long enough for nostalgic fans to miss the awe the original inspired in them and to forget the disappointment they felt over the previous two sequels. Plus, there was the enticing spectacle of Chris Pratt leading a pack of raptors on a motorcycle. Who didn’t want to see that shit? Turns out, the answer is just about nobody, as Jurassic World didn’t just exceed expectations—it tore down the walls of its pen, rampaged its way across the park, and roared triumphantly over the slain bodies of its box-office competition.
There does appear to be some disagreement as to how big of a hit Jurassic World really is. Box Office Mojo, our primary source for this weekly report, has the blockbuster sequel taking in an incredible $204.6 million over the past three days—an intake that would constitute the second biggest opening weekend of all time, between the second Avengers film ($191.2 million) and the first one ($207.4 million). But this morning, Variety offered supposedly more accurate and current numbers, declaring that an unlikely Sunday night surge has put Jurassic World at $209 million. In other words, if Variety’s report is accurate, we have a new all-time domestic debut. What both sites can agree on is that the film now holds the biggest global bow of all time, and that it’s the first movie ever to make $500 million in one weekend. Variety also knocked out a somewhat unconvincing list of reasons as to why the tentpole production did well. Allow the A.V. Club to offer a humble counterargument: Dinosaurs biting other dinosaurs is cool.
There’s not much else to report about this weekend, as several dino-less summer movies fought like scavengers for the scraps of business not hungrily devoured by Jurassic World. (No slight against Melissa McCarthy or The Rock, but a heavy, we-forgot-to-buy-our-tickets-in-advance-so-we’re-seeing-this-instead asterisk hangs over the modest earnings of the number two and number three placers.) The only other new movie to actually chart was the Sundance winner Me And Earl And The Dying Girl, which made $210,000 on about 15 screens. Its parade of affectionate cinematic allusions surely drew some patronage, though most of the country—nay, the world—seemed content spending their money on an oversized tribute to just one old movie they really liked. You know, the one with the dinosaurs.
For more detailed numbers, visit Box Office Mojo.