‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ resuscitates China’s box office
Last weekend, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom raked in a healthy $117 million in China in its first frame. While its performance wasn’t quite the $200 million opening of Avengers: Infinity War, its opening weekend gross surpasses both its predecessor, 2015’s Jurassic World, as well as Solo: A Star Wars Story, which has faced lukewarm reception in the world’s second-largest movie market since its debut last month.
The latest sequel in the Jurassic franchise was a clear victor at China’s box office during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday weekend. The movie has a lower Douban rating — 7.1 — than Jurassic World, but box office analysts are predicting that Fallen Kingdom will likely outpace the latter in terms of box office earnings. Jurassic World grossed $229 million in China and was the third-highest grossing Hollywood movie that year, behind only Furious 7 and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Douban reviews of the movie have largely been positive, with most viewers applauding Fallen Kingdom for its bombastic special effects and acknowledging that the movie falls short when it comes to the originality of its narrative. The movie’s central message of animal rights and ecological activism may be too on-the-nose for some viewers, but the general consensus seems to be that as popcorn movies go, Fallen Kingdom is more than adequate.
The debut of Fallen Kingdom comes at a propitious time for China’s box office. According to entertainment outlet Yiqipaidianying, theatrical earnings were $100 million less in June this year compared to the same period last year. And if it weren’t for the midnight screening earnings of Fallen Kingdom, the daily box office gross last Thursday would have been the lowest this year at China’s box office. Analysts have pointed out that in the last few years, the Dragon Boat Festival holiday has been dominated by Hollywood blockbusters, with domestic productions having a hard time battling imported films.
(Image via Mtime)
