Moviefone Editorial

Tag: jurassic-world

  • 5 Reasons Why ‘Magic Mike XXL’ Bombed at the Box Office

    You know it’s a bad day in Hollywood when “Magic Mike XXL” can’t get a rise out of the box office.

    The male-stripper sequel was expected to earn in the low $30 million range over the three-day holiday weekend, and hit somewhere around $45M for the five days since its debut on Wednesday. Instead, it opened in fourth place with an estimated Friday-to-Sunday haul of $12 million and $27.1 million for its first five days of release. That’s nearly 45 percent below the $49.6 million the original “Magic Mike” earned in its first five days in 2012. Ouch.

    Another sequel, “Terminator Genisys,” also underperformed this weekend. The fifth film in the franchise opened in third with an estimated $28.7 million for the three-day weekend, and $44.2 million since its Wednesday debut. But at least those numbers were at the low end of what pundits had predicted. “Magic Mike XXL” wasn’t even in the ballpark.

    Why did Channing Tatum and his team of male entertainers drop so fast and so far? Here are six likely reasons:

    1. Channing Tatum Can Be Hit or Miss
    Is C. Tates a box office draw? Sure. A consistent one, though? Not so much.

    Outside of “The Vow,” the first two “Jump Street” films and “Magic Mike,” Tatum seems unable to attract the level of box office that other A-Listers can. (We’re looking at you, “Jupiter Ascending.”) “XXL” was sold largely on his shoulders (and pecs and abs) alone, and they don’t seem muscular enough.

    2. The Female Appeal

    That’s been the big box office story all year, starting with “Fifty Shades of Grey” and “Cinderella.” Indeed, exit polls show that 96 percent of “XXL’s ” audience were women. But it seems you have to have at least some men buying tickets to generate a hit, and “Magic Mike” had hardly any.

    3. Needs More Than Just Good Word-of-mouth

    “Magic Mike XXL” earned a very good A- CinemaScore, suggesting that viewers would give the film strong recommendations to friends. But the film’s older audience relies on more than just word-of-mouth recommendations. These ticketbuyers still read reviews, and reviews for the sequel were decidedly mixed.

    4. That Big Drop Over the Weekend
    Wednesday’s opening day triumph ($9.3 million) seemed to indicate that fans of the first “Mike” were really eager to see the sequel. Unfortunately, as with many franchise movies and genre films (especially horror), the die-hard fans are the only ones who feel compelled to see the film on opening day. And a troublesome 60 percent slide from Friday-to-Saturday all but underlines that point.

    5. July 4th Competition

    Usually, Independence Day is a good weekend to open a movie; just ask Will Smith. But this year, July 4 fell on Saturday, so fireworks and barbecues cut into the heart of the moviegoing weekend. Plus, competition was especially stiff, not just from fellow newcomer “Genisys,” but also from unstoppable holdovers “Jurassic World” and “Inside Out.” The two box office hits nearly tied for first, even though they’ve already been in theaters for four weeks and three weeks, respectively.

    But there is a silver lining (ish) here. Thanks to hits like “Jurassic World,” “Inside Out,” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” this summer is running about 13 percent ahead of 2014, and only five percent behind 2013. But are these films, and December’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” enough to carry a whole year?

    They’d better be, if the rest of 2015 turns out to be filled with miscalculations like “Magic Mike XXL.”

  • ‘Inside Out’ Just Beat Up ‘Terminator’ and ‘Magic Mike’ at the Box Office

    Hasta la vista, tough guys! As we approach the July 4th holiday weekend, Hollywood is keeping a close watch on the five-day domestic box office. “Magic Mike XXL” and “Terminator Genisys” just opened, but they were both beat on Thursday by Disney/Pixar’s “Inside Out” and also the dino-mite power of “Jurassic World.”

    According to Variety, “Inside Out” earned $7.7 million on July 2, making its North American total, to date, $216.1 million. “Jurassic World” was not too far behind with $6.9 million, adding to its whopping $527.2 million domestic total.

    “Terminator Genisys” was right on the dinosaur’s tail, earning $6.5 million to give it a $15.4 million domestic total so far. The “Magic Mike” sequel only had $5.7 million, giving it just over $15 million so far, but since that one only cost about $14.8 million to make, it’s not that big a deal if it doesn’t have a huge opening weekend. “Terminator,” though. That one cost around $155 million and Variety said it’s on pace to fall $10 million short of the $55 million goal the studio had for the five-day opening weekend (Wednesday-Sunday). However, the “Terminator” reboot should get a boost overseas, and it’s about to open in 60 percent of international markets over the weekend, so don’t cry too hard for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Yet.

    Are you surprised that “Inside Out” and “Jurassic World” still seem to be more popular than “Terminator” and “Magic Mike” or does that just make sense, since family friendly films reach a wider audience?

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  • Why Did ‘Ted 2’ Stumble at the Box Office?

    Thunder buddies for life? Not for audiences, at least.

    “Ted 2” fans proved shockingly disloyal this weekend, ponying up only $32.9 million for the sequel — off more than $20 million from what the original “Ted” made ($54.4 million) three years ago over the same weekend frame. It was supposed to give holdovers “Jurassic World” and “Inside Out” a close race for the top spot. Instead, it came in third place, while “Jurassic” and “IO” finished as expected with $54.2 million and $52.1 million, respectively.

    In a season when pundits have been routinely underestimating the opening weekend tallies of summer hits by tens of millions of dollars, a movie that underperforms as big as “Ted 2” has to be considered a disappointment.

    What went wrong? Here are five possible reasons:

    1. The Novelty’s Worn Off
    A foul-mouthed, pot-smoking teddy bear was pretty funny the first time. The second time? Not so much. “Ted” seems to have been playing on permanent rotation on cable for the past three years, and instead of whetting appetites for a sequel, it seems to have worn out the bear’s welcome.

    2. Seth MacFarlane Is Wearing Out His Welcome, Too
    Since the first “Ted” opened, MacFarlane has hosted the Oscars — to decidedly mixed reviews — and wrote, directed and starred in last summer’s “A Million Ways to Die in the West,” which was universally panned and topped out at $43.1 million — about $11 million less than “Ted” earned upon its opening weekend.

    MacFarlane’s not over, by any means (he still has his two long-running primetime cartoons), but his fanbase isn’t what it used to be. And few seem to want to see him on camera, even if he is voicing a sentient, pot-smoking bear.

    3. The Audience Has Grown Up
    Well, sort of.

    An R-rated comedy depends on adult viewers, of course, but exit polling shows that only about half of “Ted 2” ticketbuyers were over 25. The grown-ups stayed away, perhaps for the two reasons listed above, and perhaps because reviews for “Ted 2” were much worse than those for its predecessor. Since the over-25 audience actually still cares somewhat about reviews, the pans probably hurt the movie. Moviegoers who’ve actually seen the comedy liked it enough to give it a B+ CinemaScore, but decent word-of-mouth won’t help people see it if weak reviews kept them away in the first place.

    4. Fierce Competition
    Or at least a zoo, with the poor bear fighting not just genetically-enhanced dinosaurs at the box office, but also emotions inside a little girl’s head. “Ted 2” faced the one-two punch of over-performers “Jurassic World” and “Inside Out” this weekend, competition that the first film didn’t have to face. A strong argument can be made for “Ted 2’s” audience getting lost on their pay to see “Jurassic” and “IO” again.

    5. R-Rated Comedies Are Struggling
    This summer, anyway.

    Four-week old “Spy,” while critically praised, is a bit of a slow-starter at the box office. But it’s held steady at the box office, boasting small drop-offs week to week, so some of “Ted 2’s” fanbase may have got their laughs from Melissa McCarthy instead. Even four-week-old “Spy” may have knocked some of the stuffing out of “Ted 2.” “Spy” finished fifth this week, with an estimated $7.8 million, for a four-week total of $88.4 million. That’s good considering that it, too, is competing against “Jurassic World” and “Inside Out.”

    The underperformance of “Ted 2” ends Universal’s recent streak of franchise-based hits that it has been enjoying all year, from “Fifty Shades of Grey” to “Furious 7” to “Pitch Perfect 2” to “Jurassic World.” While nobody anticipated just how huge “Jurassic World” was going to be, Universal should have anticipated that its audience would be demographically broad enough to steal some of the thunder from its little thunder buddy and shouldn’t have positioned them just two weeks apart.

    No doubt Amy Schumer is relieved that Universal isn’t opening her R-rated comedy, “Trainwreck,” until July 17. That’ll put three weeks between it and “Ted 2” and five weeks between it and “Jurassic World.” After all, those dinosaurs will eat any critter, no matter who created it.
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  • What Would Your Job Be at Jurassic World?

    Welcome… to Jurassic World job placement services. Here, we’ll walk you through the tedious (not really) process of determining which position at the world’s most accident-prone / terrifying dino-zoo is right for you. Job benefits include full health/dental, unlimited access to the park, a 15% discount on Jurassic World merchandise, and premature death. New jobs mysteriously become available every day, so what are you waiting for? Apply now!

    chris pratt tames raptors in jurassic world

  • ‘Jurassic World’ Is New Fastest Film to Reach $1 Billion, Besting ‘Furious 7’

    “Furious 7” just wasn’t fast enough: “Jurassic World” has officially lapped that film as the fastest flick to earn $1 billion at the international box office.

    In the race for box office records, it seemed “Furious 7” would be hard to beat. But like a hungry Indominous Rex, “Jurassic World” has been chomping up records left and right since its June 12 debut, first scoring the biggest worldwide opening weekend of all time, then the biggest domestic opening weekend of all time. And while “Furious 7” achieved the jaw-dropping milestone of racing to $1 billion in only 17 days — besting previous champs “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2” and “The Avengers” — apparently that was just too long for “World,” which blew past that impressive feat in just 13 days.

    As Forbes reports, “World” has been on an insane trajectory since its release. It sat at the 75th all-time spot on the global box office charts on Friday, before leap-frogging up 52 spots on the list by weekend’s end. On Sunday night, it sat at around $981 million, and reached the sweet, round $1 billion mark on Monday, placing it at number 22 on the all-time list — and rising.

    It seems that the sky’s the limit for “Jurassic World,” and TheWrap wonders if it has enough momentum to take on the top of the all-time list: “Avatar” ($2.8 billion) and “Titanic” ($2.2 billion). At this point, “World” should easily slide into the top ten on the chart, though those are some huge numbers near the peak. Still, “World” has already proven that it can beat Marvel, so the sky is really the limit for this flick; its real competition will be out later this year (hey there, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”!).

    Stay tuned. There’s certainly plenty more money — and plenty more records — to be made.

    [via: Forbes, TheWrap]

    Photo credit: Universal

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  • How ‘Inside Out’ Shattered Box Office Expectations

    disney pixar's inside out joyMost box office pundits expected Disney/Pixar’s “Inside Out” to cower before the might of “Jurassic World‘s” dinosaurs this weekend and become the first film in Pixar’s 20 years of feature filmmaking to fail to open atop the box office chart. And while that’s what happened, no one predicted that “Inside Out” would still set a box office record with its stunning estimated $91.1 million premiere.

    No one was predicting better than $70 million for the cartoon. But on a per-screen basis, it actually came within a hair’s-breadth of “Jurassic World,” which earned $23,775 per venue, just $599 more than the $23,076 per screen that “Inside Out” scored.

    Indeed, throughout a summer that (until “Jurassic World’s” record-smashing debut last weekend) looked like it was going to slump well below last summer’s numbers, industry observers have been consistently underestimating this season’s hits. That includes the bean-counters at Disney itself, who went into the weekend expecting a $65-to-$70 million opening for “Inside Out” and found themselves adjusting their predictions upward almost hour-by-hour on Friday and Saturday. Even late Saturday, they were still predicting a mid-80s debut, while crossing their fingers to break $90 million. Admittedly, all studio marketers like to predict conservatively, so that it’s a pleasant surprise if the movie surpasses expectations and less of a disappointment if it doesn’t.

    But even independent observers have been giving lowball predictions all summer, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. Everybody was off by at least $80 million last weekend with “Jurassic World,” and most were off by at least $20 million this weekend with “Inside Out.”

    Why have the pundits been so consistently wrong? Perhaps they’re still stuck following conventional wisdom from years past about what’s actually happening at the multiplex these days. Here are a few box office lessons for those who haven’t reexamined the old maxims.

    Originality isn’t dead. Remember a few weeks ago, when pundits were writing off “Tomorrowland” and “Aloha” as failures of originality? Original movies don’t work, the conventional wisdom said, and audiences now only want sequels and reboots. In fact, “Tomorrowland” and “Aloha” could be chalked up to failures of both marketing (how to sell a movie whose very premise is a secret, or can’t be easily summarized in a sentence?) and execution (critics and audience both felt that neither film delivered).

    This weekend, “Inside Out” shattered the record for the biggest opening weekend for a movie with an original screenplay. (The previous record-holder was 2009’s “Avatar,” at $77 million.) Granted, you could argue that the movie was easier for Disney to market than “Tomorrowland,” since the Pixar brand is so strong, it practically sells itself, and since “Inside Out” is a movie that critics and audiences agree is actually good. Still, all these caveats prove is that audiences will go see an original movie if it’s well-made and properly marketed.

    3D isn’t dead. It’s long been assumed that American audiences aren’t as fond of 3D as viewers overseas, since North American theaters slap costly glasses-rental surcharges on 3D or IMAX tickets. If as much as 15 or 20 percent of a movie’s revenue was attributable to 3D screenings, that was a healthy number. So far, however, 47 percent of “Jurassic World” revenue has come from 3D screenings, and 11 percent has come from IMAX. That follows a trend for boosted 3D revenue for such summer 2015 movies as “San Andreas,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” “Inside Out” continued this trend with 28 percent of this weekend’s earnings coming from 3D venues.

    Female protagonists work. You’d think this would be obvious after the successes this summer of “Pitch Perfect 2,” “Spy,” and (arguably) “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Not to mention the successes of other recent female-fronted Disney cartoon, especially “Frozen,” the biggest animated box office hit of all time. Nonetheless, it helps to keep reminding Hollywood of this, especially with a movie whose principal voice cast is almost entirely female, and in a narrative that doesn’t involve princesses. What’s more, the movie has been a smash overseas, too, disproving the notion that the foreign audiences that are now the industry’s most lucrative customers don’t want to see women in lead roles.

    The theatrical experience isn’t dead. This may be the single biggest reason that this summer’s hits are exceeding expectations. For along time, pundits have been declaring the multiplex dead, citing declining numbers of tickets sold. And yet, this summer’s movies prove that, if you want to lure people off their couches and away from their home entertainment systems, all you have to do is release movies people actually want to see.
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  • ‘Indiana Jones 5’ May or May Not Be Coming in 2018

    Another day, another set of rumors surrounding the “Indiana Jones” series. This time, the controversy centers around whether or not Disney has slated a fifth film in the franchise for release in 2018 — or if any conversation about such a film ever took place.

    A pair of conflicting reports from Ain’t It Cool News and Slashfilm suggest that not even Disney can keep straight whether or not “Indiana Jones 5” is in the works. Rumors flew earlier this year that Chris Pratt — who’s currently the box office king of the world, thanks to “Jurassic World” — would be donning the titular adventurer’s hat and whip for a reboot of the franchise. Pratt has since denied that possibility (at least, no one’s approached him yet, though that could change thanks to the wild success of “World”).

    But whether or not Pratt is involved, Ain’t It Cool News reports that a “long-time and trustworthy source” has said that Lucasfilm has just scheduled “Indy 5” to drop sometime during the fourth quarter of 2018. AICN suggests that it could very well be “World”‘s domination that inspired new talk about “Indy,” since the former film was a sequel to a 22-year-old flick that nevertheless reinvigorated the story and connected with audiences. Everyone loves a redemption story, and Disney knows there’s more money to be made from “Indiana Jones.”

    Of course, AICN’s report flies directly in the face of Lucasfilm producer Frank Marshall himself, who told Slashfilm in no uncertain terms that Disney has never discussed “Indy 5.” The key exchange from that interview:

    [Slashfilm:] So that’s just Internet rumor?

    Frank Marshall: Yeah. I mean, we’ve had no discussions on Indy 5 to date.

    Slashfilm notes that that interview was actually conducted last week, before “World”‘s debut, and it’s possible that AICN’s report was accurate, if those discussions rapidly came together as soon as word spread about the film’s success. Still, such a strong denial is enough to keep the rumor mill from churning at full speed. It seems, as ever, that nothing should be considered official until word comes directly from Disney.

    Stay tuned. This story is nowhere close to finished.

    [via: Ain’t It Cool News, Slashfilm]

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  • Zookeepers Recreate Chris Pratt’s ‘Jurassic World’ Raptor Skills, Spawn Hilarious Meme

    jurassic world, chris pratt, raptorsThink taming velociraptors at Jurassic World is hard? Clearly, Chris Pratt‘s raptor handler, Owen, has never tried to wrangle a group of walruses.

    That latter feat — as well as a slew of other copycats — has made headlines in recent days thanks to a new meme inspired by the massively popular “Jurassic Park” sequel. #Prattkeeping pokes fun at the scene in which Owen calms a group of ravenous raptors using only raised arms and his voice, subduing the creatures long enough to let a fallen coworker escape from the hungry predators.

    Zookeepers from across the globe have taken up the challenge to soothe their own beasts in a similar manner, some donning vests like Owen’s and all adopting the same wide-legged, wide-armed stance, surrounded by fauna of all shapes and sizes. The aforementioned walruses, as well as vultures, sloths, spiders, capybaras, and many more have all joined in the fun. (Scroll through the #Prattkeeping stream on Twitter to get a full taste of the awesomeness.)

    As Tumblr user Feminerds (who shared the original walrus image, and is friends with the pictured keeper) said of the meme, “You guys, this is the best.” We couldn’t agree more.

    Check out a few of our favorites below.
    prattkeeping, jurassic world, chris pratt


    [h/t Yahoo!]

    Photo credit: Universal, Feminerds

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  • ‘Jurassic World’ With Wiener Dogs Is the Parody You Didn’t Know You Needed


    If you didn’t think “Jurassic World” could get any better, you thought wrong. Hot Chris Pratt + adorable dachshunds = the best thing you’ll watch all day.
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  • Marvel Congratulates New Box Office King ‘Jurassic World’

    jurassic world, marvel, kevin feige, the avengersThey may have been beaten at the box office by a bunch of dinosaurs (and fellow MCU member Chris Pratt), but the suits at Marvel know how to be super gracious when it counts.

    Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige proved just that Tuesday in a post on Twitter, where he congratulated “Jurassic World“‘s coronation as the “new opening weekend king.” Feige gave specific shout-outs to producer (and original “Jurassic Park” director) Steven Spielberg, studio Universal and distributor Legendary, producer Frank Marshall, director Colin Trevorrow, and Pratt (star of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise), and accompanied the tweet with a hilarious illustration of Pratt riding a T-rex, while members of the “Avengers” crew look on in confusion and wonder.


    “Jurassic World” broke all kinds of records at the box office this weekend, including shattering those for biggest international opening of all time ($524 million, making it the first flick to cross the half-billion mark in one weekend) as well as the biggest domestic opening ever ($208.8 million), usurping previous champ, 2012’s “The Avengers.” Not even hotly-anticipated “Avengers” sequel “Age of Ultron” could do that, despite cocky industry projections. (“Jurassic,” meanwhile, was only expected to earn somewhere in the $100 million ballpark before blowing that number out of the water; the question mark and disappointed-looking Hulk in Feige’s illustration may be a projection of that.)

    It remains to be seen if any other film in 2015 can match “Jurassic”‘s jaw-dropping haul, though that’s doubtful. Marvel’s next flick, “Ant-Man,” seems an unlikely successor. Perhaps the third installment of the “Captain America” franchise, 2016’s “Civil War,” can topple Pratt and his dinos and return Marvel to the top of the box office record charts?

    While Feige and co. are no doubt plotting their next moves to make that happen, it’s nice to see them acknowledge the feat that “Jurassic” just accomplished — even if it’s now another hurdle for Marvel’s superheroes to scale.

    [via: Kevin Feige]

    Photo credit: Kevin Feige

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