Universal/Amblin’s “Jurassic World: Rebirth” showed that there’s still plenty of staying power in the three decade-old dinosaur franchise, beating estimates again and again as the Fourth of July weekend rolled on to earn a 5-day domestic opening of $147 million and a 6-day global launch of $318 million.
Historically, the “Jurassic World” series has gotten boosts from walk-up traffic rather than presales, and exhibition sources tell TheWrap that continues to be the case. While skewing slightly older than past “Jurassic World” films — to be expected considering this incarnation of the “Jurassic” franchise began a decade ago — all age demos were represented with 46% in the 18-35 subset, 35% over the age of 35, and 19% under the age of 18.
Initially projected for a $130 million 5-day domestic opening, estimates have steadily ticked up over the course of the weekend with strong performances from premium formats like Dolby and ScreenX. Meanwhile, international sales have been fueled by a $41.5 million opening weekend in China, the second highest for a Hollywood release this year behind only “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.”
Other top markets include the U.K. with $16.6 million and Mexico with $13.9 million. It’s the second biggest international opening of 2025 behind only the Chinese animated megahit “Ne Zha 2” while passing “Lilo & Stitch” and “A Minecraft Movie” for the biggest overseas opening for a Hollywood film this year.
Even with critics once again tepid on its latest installment, “Jurassic World” has proven to be resilient against bad pre-release buzz. The next challenge will be whether “Rebirth” can hold well against Warner Bros./DC’s “Superman,” which is expected to have its own $140 million-plus opening next weekend.
The one notable blemish for “Rebirth” is its B grade on CinemaScore, the lowest received by a “Jurassic” film from opening night audiences since “Jurassic Park III” in 2001. If “Superman” earns stronger buzz, it could curtail the legs for “Rebirth” among the casual audiences that have made all three previous “Jurassic World” films into $1 billion hits.
But nonetheless, this spectacular start should be enough to get “Rebirth” to at least $800 million worldwide, which Universal insiders told TheWrap before release was the mark the studio was hoping the film could clear.
In second place on the charts and holding decently against “Jurassic World: Rebirth” is Warner Bros./Apple’s “F1” with $26 million in its second weekend for a 54% drop from its $57 million domestic opening.
The Brad Pitt racing film had the advantage of screening exclusively on Imax in the U.S. and other key overseas markets this weekend, as it now stands with $109.5 million domestic and $293.6 million worldwide. That 10-day total is enough to make it the highest grossing Apple theatrical release, surpassing the $221 million of Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon.”
Universal’s “How to Train Your Dragon” is in third with $9.7 million in its fourth weekend for a total of $222 million domestic and $514 million worldwide.
In fourth is “Elio” with just $5.7 million in its third weekend, as Disney and Pixar find themselves in bomb territory after releasing the biggest box office comeback of 2023 in “Elemental” and the biggest hit of 2024 in “Inside Out 2.” Despite glowing word-of-mouth from those who did see the film, “Elio” has grossed a mere $55.8 million domestic and $96.8 million worldwide, as it will join the pandemic-curtailed “Onward” as just the second Pixar release to fail to gross $100 million in the United States.
More to come…
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