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Monday July 02, 2018

Box Office: Dinos vs. Cartoon Supes

Roaring louder abroad. 

This past weekend, a week after its opening, “Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom” dropped nearly 60% but still finished first with a $60 million haul. Two weeks after its opening, “Incredibles 2” fell 43% and was No. 2 with $45 million. 

But let's look deeper. 

“Jurassic/Fallen” has thus far grossed $264 million domestically, which, among “Jurassic” films adjusted for inflation, ranks dead last. In a few days it will pass up “Jurassic World III,” which grossed the equivalent of $293 million in 2001, but probably won't make it past “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” which grossed the equivalent of $457 million in 1997. So domestically, among Jurassic films, it will be fourth of five. Not a huge success. 

“Incredibles 2” has thus far grossed $439.7 million, which, among Pixar films adjusted for inflation, ranks fourth of 20. It will probably pass them all. Unadjusted, the biggest domestic Pixar flick is “Finding Dory,” grossing $486 a few summers back. Adjusted, it's “Finding Nemo,” which grossed the equivalent of $516 mil in 2003. Expect “I2” to be top of the heap in both categories. So a huge success. 

But that's just domestic. If you go global, “Jurassic” stomps “Incredibles.” It's grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide—meaning including U.S. receipts). “I2” is at $646 million.

So which would you rather be: 1) critically well-received, domestically on top of your clan but losing out on hundreds of millions internationally, or 2) critically received with a shrug and a sign, a domestic disappointment among your clan but killing it internationally? 

Several other films opened well: “Sicario: Day of Soldado” grossed $19 mil, which is nearly half of the original's total gross in Sept. 2015; and “Uncle Drew,” which stars Shaq, Nick Kroll and the suddenly omnipresent Tiffany Haddish, and which took in $15 mil. 

Some good news for people who care about quality cinema and documentaries: the fourth weekend of “Won't You Be My Neighbor?” is in a dead heat with the sixth weekend of “Solo: A Star Wars Story”: $2.29 mil. With $7.4 mil, “Neighbor” is the second-highest-grossing doc of the year after “RBG” at $11.5.

Posted at 04:16 AM on Monday July 02, 2018 in category Movies - Box Office