The dinos will stomp back into theaters just in time to set off major fireworks at the Fourth of July holiday, or at least that’s the hope.
If tracking is correct, Universal’s Jurassic World Rebirth should open anywhere from $120 million to $125 million over the five-day holiday corridor. The pic opens in North America on July 2, a Wednesday. Universal and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin, home of the multi-billion dollar franchise, are trying to manage expectations by stressing that the pic could come in on the lower end of tracking, and even in the $90 million to $100 million range.
In 2015, Jurassic World opened to a series-best $208.8 million domestically, not adjusted for inflation. The two films that followed, 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion, opened to $148 million and $145 million, respectively. The trio of films were anchored by stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. (Dominion, playing the nostalgia card, also featured original franchise stars Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill, who all appeared in Spielberg‘s first Jurassic Park, a smash hit released in 1993.)
The aptly titled Rebirth takes place five years after the events of filmmaker Colin Trevorrow’s Dominion, and features an all-new ensemble cast led by Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, David Iacono, Audrina Miranda, Philippine Velge, Bechir Sylvain and Ed Skrein.
Gareth Edwards directed the seventh Jurassic from a script by David Koepp, who worked on Jurassic Park and its 1997 sequel, The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Universal insiders say the film cost far lest than the last two titles, or a net $180 million before marketing.
In Jurassic World Rebirth, only a limited number of dinosaurs remain and reside in specialized biospheres, and three of these creatures hold the key to a potentially life-saving drug. Covert operations expert Zora Bennett (Johansson) attempts to secure the genetic material from the dinosaurs but ends up stranded with a civilian family on an island that holds a secret being kept from humanity for decades.
