Jurassic Box Office Indeed! JURASSIC WORLD Trails Only TITANIC And AVATAR!

They did it! JURASSIC WORLD ($1.52b) is now in the sole possession of third place on the all-time world box office list trailing just TITANIC ($2.2b) and AVATAR ($2.8b).

That is one heckuva accomplishment and my family contributed solidly to the effort I might add. Universal in fact has never broken the billion dollar mark with a movie before as hard as that is to believe. This year? They did it twice - JURASSIC WORLD and FURIOUS 7 ($1.51b). Nice movie line up guys!

Can STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS continue the solid march of the box office this year? One would definitely think so considering the buzz the movie's been getting. We'll see in December!

Congratulations to the JURASSIC WORLD team and director Colin Trevorrow!! Good on you!

3D Movie Review: JURASSIC WORLD: 8.8 Stars - 3D Box Office Explodes!!

This review is a bit late getting out I know, but I wanted to ensure I saw it again and I did - 3 times now (recently took the family)! It is indeed that great a movie and the 3D is well worth the extra surcharge at the box office. I personally guarantee it - and I've used my exclusive review format for you.

JURASSIC WORLD is continuing it's stellar success with 3D box office as audiences respond to the jawdropping 3D immersion in the movie. 47% of the box office continues to be 3D. Keep in mind that 3 out of the top 5 movies are 3D - including the top 2, and 5 out of the top 10. Massive numbers for 3D! As of yesterday JW sits at $981.3 million after just over a week in release - it WILL pass $1 billion today (~11 days). Stellar performance - and ANOTHER record as that bounty beats FURIOUS 7 (17 days) for fastest to $1 billion.

I'm astounded with the naysayers out there that continue to try and defend their positions on the movie. They say the CGI is rough, 3D isn't needed, poor character development, blah, blah, blah. I could go on. First of all I haven't seen the movie in 2D and won't until I get it on blu-ray. 3D is how to see it in theaters and if you don't you are truly missing out on the spectacle. Perhaps the CGI in 2D is not as impressive - that has happened before with me: I thought that the effects in a past movie viewed in 2D were unimpressive and not real enough, but when I saw THE EXACT SAME SCENES IN 3D - I was floored! Yes, sometimes visual effects are immensely better in three dimensions and that could be with JW because I see nothing wrong with the CGI performance. 3D does help with suspension of disbelief and in the case of JW - it's almost required.

The 3D conversion is not perfect, but certainly great enough to have a very good time at the show for 99% of audiences. I know what to look for as I have said many times before but for the masses it's perfectly fine. And as I say, 3D is required viewing for the movie - especially as it amps up the visual effects and let's face it, we're going to see dinosaurs here so the CGI and suspension of disbelief is very important. Native 3D still would have been a better choice by the filmmakers. One conversion error was trying to draw the audiences eye to the two boys in the massive crowd as they enter the main park building - they started far too early doing that so the boys appear to float above the others temporarily. Also it highlights the fact that the child actors were waiting for a cue to action before moving within the crowd (my interpretation anyway). So that brought me out of the movie. HOWEVER, other times the conversion seemed to take the time to do things right - like the close attention to detail when the screen was divided many times by thin lines (wires or plant branches) - usually in cheap conversions you can see ugly distortion there as automated conversions can't handle it. These JW scenes definitely had human hands touch them, to clean that up - well done!

Yes character development was not that great, but we're here to see dinosaurs so I cut Trevorrow significant slack in this department. We cared about the kids and they were the linchpin in this movie just as the original JURASSIC PARK. And the story was geared around the dinos again - so whatever. It's a popcorn movie, not freakin' GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS.

Probably the best thing about the movie was the Sound / Score. I thought it was perfect and a further tribute to the original movie. Plenty of "easter eggs" in JW referring back to JP - I won't spoil them, but keep an eye out! And they're not silly references either - some play a key role. Others are just meant as a smile as you nod your head.

Definitely see this movie in 3D and on the largest screen you can. These dinos are meant to be HUGE. Don't make a mistake and just see it in 2D - the world agrees; 3D is how to see it. If you have any questions about the movie before seeing it - the comments are open! :-)

JURASSIC WORLD is NOW PLAYING.

JURASSIC WORLD Shatters Global And Domestic Best Openings Of All Time!

JURASSIC WORLD was grossly underestimated for it's opening weekend, probably by many of the critics who decided to write negatively about it. Personally I knew it would do much better than the estimates - even the studio pegged it at $100m domestically. But I was off too - this movie is a phenomenon.

This thing's a monster itself. JW captured the domestic opening weekend record by biting into a $208.8m opening topping the previous record holder THE AVENGERS ($207.1) from 2012. It would have been higher too, but it was competing with NBA and NHL finals taking place.

Internationally, box offices were swallowed whole. An all time record of $315.3 million topping HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PT. 2 ($314m). And a stunning $524.1 million - over half a BILLION dollars in one weekend in total worldwide box office. Think about that.

JW also topped THE AVENGERS for the all time record in the revenue per theater with a whopping $47.8k in 4,274 locations. 

Over 50% of the box office take was driven by 3D screenings which is obviously a huge amount of revenue. I'm very impressed with the numbers driven here by 3D - especially in the large premium formats. 

When there is a record breaker like this - all bets are off. Word of mouth can do massive, sustained business with many repeat viewers in the mix. A solid "A" Cinema Score, 52% male / 48% female audience with 39% below the age of 25, an excellent 3D conversion means this thing WILL have legs. Will it reach TITANIC levels? (2.187b) It's conceivable but we do have some big openings coming up. TED 2 is next weekend and TERMINATOR: GENISYS is July 1 - but it is more or less clear sailing for JW until June 26. Obviously lots of money to be made in between.

I'll be seeing the movie again in the coming week and will have my review out shortly for the 3D side of things - but trust me, it looks great! If you haven't seen it yet - get out and see it!!

Source: Variety

Monster Opening Coming For JURASSIC WORLD

JURASSIC WORLD will be taking a huge bite out of the box office this coming weekend - but just how huge? HUGE. Estimates are now pegging the opening at $115 million and while still behind FURIOUS 7 and AGE OF ULTRON it's still a massive opening. I look for it to do more than that - in the $125 million range because I feel the 3D surcharge uplift will be greater than expected.

If you haven't secured your IMAX or premium large format 3D screen now for the weekend, do it SOON. It will be selling out and you don't want to miss this event.

From THR: "Fandango reports that the latest chapter in the “Jurassic Park” franchise is outselling all major 2014 summer blockbusters — a group that includes “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “X-Men: Days of Future Past” — at the same point in those film’s sales cycles. The picture accounts for over 90% of all weekend ticket sales."

Here's the movie's storyline:
Steven Spielberg returns to executive produce the long-awaited next installment of his groundbreaking Jurassic Park series, Jurassic World. Colin Trevorrow directs the epic action-adventure from a screenplay he wrote with Derek Connolly. Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley join the team as producers.

JURASSIC WORLD opens this Friday!

YES! New Teaser Trailer For Universal's JURASSIC WORLD !! New Images Too !

"Probably not a good idea."

Universal has released the full teaser trailer for Colin Trevorrow's JURASSIC WORLD and it's a doosey. LOVE the tension build up and it actually channels the original movie so much that I'm salivating at seeing this thing! I am so hoping to re-experience what I felt the first time around. I hope my expectations aren't too high.

The teaser trailer is exactly what I wanted to see. It's engaging. It pays tribute to the original, yet looks original. Perfect casting from what I see. The story is sufficiently thrilling enough in theory. Can Trevorrow deliver?

Here's the movie's Intro:
Steven Spielberg returns to executive produce the long-awaited next installment of his groundbreaking Jurassic Park series, Jurassic World. Colin Trevorrow directs the epic action-adventure from a screenplay he wrote with Derek Connolly. Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley join the team as producers.

JURASSIC WORLD opens on June 12, 2015 in 3D, IMAX 3D and flat.

JURASSIC PARK 4 Has Its Director!

Universal today announced that Colin Trevorrow will be directing JURASSIC PARK 4 which is also being executive produced by Steven Spielberg. Trevorrow opened eyes with his SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED and its outstanding character development / story.

Here's the press release:
UNIVERSAL CITY, CA, March 14, 2013 — Colin Trevorrow has signed on to direct Jurassic Park 4, the highly-anticipated fourth installment of the blockbuster franchise that has grossed $1.9 billion at worldwide box office since the first film was released in 1993.

The Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment production will be produced by Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley with Steven Spielberg as Executive Producer. The script was written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes).

Trevorrow directed Safety Not Guaranteed for FilmDistrict and Big Beach Films starring Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass and Jake Johnson. The critically-acclaimed film debuted at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival where screenwriter Derek Connolly won the prestigious Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. The film also won Best First Screenplay at this year’s Independent Spirit Awards, where Trevorrow was nominated for Best First Feature.

On a related note, JURASSIC PARK 3D opens on April 5.