‘Jurassic World Dominion’ Roars With $143.4 Domestic Debut; ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Keeps Flying High
It’s peak summer movie season, which means what’s old is new again. After two back-to-back first-place finishes for a follow-up to the biggest box-office hit of 1986 (Top Gun), this weekend multiplexes were dominated by the latest sequel to the biggest box-office hit of 1993 (Jurassic Park). Not that anyone at Hollywood’s major studios is complaining about this latest wave of deja-vu. These days their very survival seems to depend on franchise nostalgia. Leaving a monster footprint at home and abroad, Universal’s Jurassic World Dominion, the sixth and latest installment in the dinos-run-amok franchise, stomped the competition over the frame with an eye-popping $143.4 million domestic bow, bumping reigning champ Top Gun: Maverick from the top spot even though Tom Cruise and company held on far better than expected in its third session with a still-impressive $50 million North American haul.

Although the latest Jurassic chapter was panned by critics, who dinged the PG-13 action-adventure with a lowly 30% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences were in a more forgiving frame of mind, handing Dominion a solid ‘A-‘ CinemaScore grade. The third and final film in the Jurassic World trilogy, which stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard as well as the original trilogy’s trio of Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill, and Laura Dern, earned a muscular $30,660 per-screen average in 4,676 theaters. Despite doing gangbusters business, the tentpole (which takes place after the franchise’s cloned prehistoric creatures have spread across the globe) fell short of the previous two Jurassic chapters’ domestic debuts—Jurassic World opened to $208 million in 2015 and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom bowed to $148 million in 2018. Both films ended up clearing the $1 billion benchmark globally. Overseas, where Dominion opened a week earlier in 15 foreign markets, the film has now earned $245.8 so far. Part of the reason for that T-Rex-sized haul is the fact that Dominion, unlike many other recent Hollywood blockbusters, unspooled in China, where it took in $52.5 million alone. Another reason for its super-sized numbers is the fact that 25% of its global revenues came from IMAX and other premium formats. Dominion’s total worldwide gross currently stands at $389.1 million and counting.

Based on Dominion’s massive first-week haul, you’d be excused for thinking that no one was left to buy tickets to check out the competition. But you would be wrong. In its third weekend of release, Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick kept flying high, taking in $50 million—a drop of just -44.5% from the previous frame. Thanks to its extremely fresh 97% fresh rating from critics and its rare ‘A+’ CinemaScore grade, Maverick landed in second place thanks to a healthy $11,731 per-screen average at 4,262 locations, putting its three-week domestic tally at $393.3 million. The movie, which also stars Miles Teller, Val Kilmer, Jon Hamm, and Jennifer Connelly, continues to perform well overseas too, where it has taken in $353.7 million so far (and that’s without opening in Russia or China). Maverick’s current global gross is $747 million.

Landing in third place was Disney’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which took in $4.9 million. The latest Marvel installment fell -46.8% from the previous weekend. The Benedict Cumberbatch-led superhero epic scored a $1,460 per-screen average at 3,345 locations, putting its six-week domestic box-office total at $397.8 million. The PG-13-rated hit has fared even better overseas, where it has racked up $532.4 million in sales. Its current worldwide total now sits at $930.2 million, making it the top-grossing global release of 2022.

In fourth was 20th Century Studios’ The Bob’s Burger Movie with $2.3 million. The PG-13-rated spin-off feature from the long-running animated TV show declined -49.6% in its third weekend, posting an $897 per-screen average in 2,605 theaters. Its three-week domestic haul now stands at $27.1 million. The film, which earned a solid 86% fresh rating from reviewers, has yet to make much of a dent overseas, earning a scant $1.7 million so far. Its combined worldwide gross is $28.8 million.

Rounding out the top five was Universal’s stealth hit The Bad Guys with $2.2 million. In its eighth weekend, the PG-rated animated comedy about a gang of animal thieves who struggle to become model citizens fell -32.7% from the prior session, managing a $931 per-screen average in 2,416 theaters. The movie, which features the voices of Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Zazie Beetz, Craig Robinson, and Awkwafina, has now accrued $91.5 million domestically with another $131.6 million coming from overseas, bringing it global box-office cume to $223.1 million. An impressive footnote: The Bad Guys has managed to stay in the top five for eight straight weeks.