Jurassic World Dominion may not have garnered the critical acclaim fans might have hoped for (our own Eric Eisenberg called it “a slog of a film”), but that certainly didn’t keep them away from the theater this weekend. The sequel was able to — as expected — bump Top Gun: Maverick out of the top spot at the box office. The dinosaur flick, which partners the Jurassic Park legacy actors with World’s Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, pulled in $143.4 million domestically over the weekend, as the Tom Cruise sequel picked up another cool $50 million to secure the silver medal and get closer to a record.
Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum reprised their characters for the Colin Trevorrow blockbuster, and the runway was cleared for Jurassic World Dominion to battle it out with Top Gun: Maverick. In promising news for the film industry, fans showed up for both movies, not just domestically either, as both scored big in international ticket sales as well. Check out this weekend’s full Top 10 (via The Numbers) below, then join me after to break it all down!
| TITLE | WEEKEND GROSS | DOMESTIC GROSS | LW | THTRS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Jurassic World Dominion* | $143,370,000 | $143,370,000 | Row 0 - Cell 3 | 4,676 |
| 2. Top Gun: Maverick | $50,000,064 | $393,344,000 | 1 | 4,262 |
| 3. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness | $4,884,000 | $397,806,858 | 2 | 3,765 |
| 4. The Bob's Burgers Movie | $2,338,000 | $27,086,540 | 3 | 3.425 |
| 5. The Bad Guys | $2,250,000 | $91,527,445 | 4 | 2,416 |
| 6. Downton Abbey: A New Era | $1,650,000 | $39,992,725 | 5 | 2,011 |
| 7. Everything Everywhere All at Once | $1,271,108 | $63,031,678 | 6 | 1,434 |
| 8. Firestarter | $820,000 | $9,252,260 | Row 7 - Cell 3 | 150 |
| 9. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | $710,316 | $189,837,000 | 7 | 1,067 |
| 10. The Lost City | $549,667 | $104,951,000 | 8 | 353 |
Critical Reception Didn’t Hurt Jurassic World Dominion, Domestically Or Internationally
Jurassic World Dominion’s box office domination wasn’t unexpected, but it shouldn’t be taken for granted, either. The trilogy’s presumed final installment scored just 30% on Rotten Tomatoes’ critical reviews (though its audience score was a much more generous 79%). And going up against Tom Cruise’s fighter pilot sequel, which by comparison scored a 97% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes (99% audience score), there could have been cause for concern. However, the legacyquel’s $143.4 million debut brought in more than Top Gun: Maverick’s $124 million Friday-Sunday earnings, as well as the $128.5 million launch of The Batman.
The MCU still holds top box office honors so far for 2022, however, with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness earning slightly more than Dominion with its $185 million weekend opening last month.
The threequel's opening weekend numbers are comparable to its predecessor, as Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, made $148 million on its opening weekend back in 2018 (pre-COVID). The first movie in the World series drew $209 million in its first weekend domestically. The latest blockbuster is also off to a good start internationally, drawing $389.1 million over the past few days, per Deadline.
Top Gun: Maverick Is Set To Become Tom Cruise's Biggest Blockbuster Of All Time
It may have fallen to No. 2 on the domestic box office charts this week but, with a drop of only 44% from its second week, Top Gun: Maverick is still going strong and breaking records along the way. The sequel had the best opening weekend preview in the history of Paramount, and it gave Tom Cruise is best opening weekend ever. On top of that, it was also the biggest Memorial Day weekend opener since Pirates of the Caribbean: A World’s End, and it gave the actor a No. 1 movie at the box office for his fifth-straight decade, ranging all the way back to the original Top Gun, which released in 1986.
On top of all that, Maverick is set to become the biggest movie of Tom Cruise’s career, as international box office numbers hit $747 million after this weekend, Deadline reported, putting it easily within reach of Cruise's highest grossing movie to date — Mission: Impossible - Fallout.That film earned $787.2 million globally in 2018. Will Top Gun be able to cross that threshold in just one more week?
The Bad Guys Continues To Hold On Ahead Of Pixar's Lightyear Premiere
With no other new releases this week, there were few surprises in the rest of the Top 10. Everything Everywhere All At Once and The Lost City continue to hang on in the rankings after an impressive 12 weeks. The Bad Guys, as well, continues an impressive streak, amassing $91.5 million after eight weeks in theaters.
The Universal animated film starring Sam Rockwell has nearly had the family-friendly market to itself — along with Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which is hanging on, as well, 10 weeks since its premiere — as audiences await the release of Lightyear on Friday, June 17. The Toy Story origin tale will see Chris Evans take over the voice acting duties from Tim Allen, as the movie is said to be the story of the space ranger that the toy is based on. Expectations are high for Pixar's return to the theater, even if so much of the critical response has been centered around Sox, Buzz's robotic cat companion.
Lightyear is likely to push The Bad Guys and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 down, as the younger audience and their parents rush to see the latest installment in the beloved franchise. But how will the rated-PG movie compete with the slightly more mature movies that are dominating the box office this week? Come back next week to find out! Also be sure to check out our 2022 Movie Release Schedule to see what films are coming soon to theaters!
