Jurassic World Still Holds A Very Unique Box Office Record

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To say that the "Jurassic Park" and "Jurassic World" movies are popular would be a bit of an insulting understatement. Steven Spielberg's 1993 original, which is based on author Michael Crichton's novel of the same name, is one of the most important, beloved and successful blockbusters ever made. That led to a full trilogy of movies, which concluded in 2001 with "Jurassic Park III." Then, a full 14 years later, the series found new life in 2015 with director Colin Trevorrow's "Jurassic World."

Taking the world by storm, "Jurassic World" made an astonishing $1.67 billion at the global box office and still ranks as the tenth biggest movie of all-time worldwide. At the end of its original theatrical run, it was the third-biggest, albeit for a short while. That, in turn, led to a new trilogy with "Fallen Kingdom" arriving in 2018 and "Dominion" wrapping things up for Owen Grady and Claire Dearing in 2022.

In total, the six "Jurassic" movies have generated more than $6 billion at the box office. However, a full decade later, it's 2015's "Jurassic World" that holds onto a wildly impressive and pretty unique record. For all of its accomplishments and for all of the success that this franchise has enjoyed, it's Trevorrow's revival of the series that posted one of the biggest opening weekends the box office has ever seen.

How big was it exactly? In terms of dollars and centers, we're talking $208.8 million, which passed "The Avengers" record of $207.4 million from 2012. It was, at the time, the biggest domestic opening weekend ever. While it hasn't held onto that record, the only franchises that have managed to better hail from the "Star Wars" galaxy or the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

"Jurassic World" still stands tall with the biggest opening weekend not connected to a galaxy far, far away or Marvel, both of which are controlled by Disney. Only six opening weekends have topped it in the years since including "Deadpool & Wolverine" ($211.4 million), "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" ($220 million), "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" ($247.9 million), "Avengers: Infinity War" ($257.6 million), "Spider-Man: No Way Home" ($260.1 million), and "Avengers: Endgame" ($357.1 million. Not for nothing, but Chris Pratt appears in three of these movies.

While critical opinion varies on Trevorrow's return to Isla Nublar, it's undeniable that "Jurassic World" was a true crowd pleaser. At the time, it set a record as the fastest movie to ever make $1 billion worldwide. The fever surrounding the film very much had to do with the 14-year break between installments. An entire generation of kids grew up with the movies never getting the chance to see any on the big screen. Meanwhile, everyone who grew up in the '90s was feeling nostalgic for the franchise. It was the perfect storm.

Universal now controls what can definitively be labeled as one of if not the single biggest non-Marvel, non-"Star Wars" franchise around. Only "Harry Potter" and perhaps "Batman" could claim otherwise. It's a small list. That's why the studio is bringing us a new installment in the form of "Jurassic World Rebirth" this summer. If all goes well, that will most likely be the start of yet another new trilogy. Whether or not it can match the insane highs of the record-breaking 2015 entry remains to be seen, but that's a tall order.

You can pre-order the "Jurassic World" trilogy on 4K from Amazon.