Weekend Box Office: Jurassic World: Dominion Surprises w/ #1 Repeat ($58.6M), Lightyear Light with $51M Debut

Photo Credits: Disney & Pixar ("Lightyear")

Still flying like a pterodactyl

Last frame, Universal’s sci-fi thriller sequel Jurassic World: Dominion earned the #29 opening weekend of all time, between 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ($146.5M) and 2009’s Twilight: New Moon ($142.8M).

It also debuted behind both of its predecessors: -30% behind 2015’s Jurassic World ($208.8M) and -2% behind 2018’s’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ($148.0M).

This weekend, on the weakness of its mixed-to-weak reception, the title fell a fairly steep -59% to $58.6M. That’s a sharper drop than Jurassic World (-49%) and equal to the sharp drop of Fallen Kingdom (also -59%).

It’s also the #39 sophomore frame of all time, between Toy Story 3 ($59.3M) and Wonder Woman ($58.5M).

Yet due to a box office stumble by a major competitor, it repeats in first place – contrary to virtually all pre-release projections, which forecast it falling to second.

The film has now earned $259.1M domestic, $373.3M overseas, and $622.1M globally.

The title remains atop China’s box office for a second frame with $24.0M, earning $92.8M there so far. That’s tracking considerably below the first two installments, which earned $230M and $265M in China, respectively.

Other top market totals for Dominion include Mexico ($36.1M), U.K. ($26.2M), South Korea ($22.8M), Australia ($15.3M), France ($14.6M), Germany ($12.6M), and Brazil ($11.8M).

To infinity and below

Disney’s animated spinoff Lightyear fell considerably short of expectations with a projected $51.0M opening, far short of the $75M-$105M range expected.

Compared to other major Pixar sequels of recent years, that’s:

  • -53% behind 2010’s Toy Story 3 ($110.3M)
  • -57% behind 2019’s Toy Story 4 ($120.9M)
  • -72% behind 2018’s Incredibles 2 ($182.6M)

It also opens lower than almost every Pixar film not just of the 2010s, but also of the 1990s and 2000s – and that’s with the handicap that movie ticket prices were considerably lower back then. For example, it debuts:

  • -11% below 1999’s Toy Story 2 ($57.3M)
  • -18% below 2001’s Monsters, Inc. ($62.5M)
  • -27% below 2003’s Finding Nemo ($70.2M)
  • -27% below 2004’s The Incredibles ($70.4M)
  • -15% below 2006’s Cars ($60.1M)
  • -19% below 2008’s WALL-E ($63.0M)
  • -25% below 2009’s Up ($68.1M)

At least it’s not the lowest Pixar opening of all time, beating several other titles including 2007’s Ratatouille, 2015’s The Good Dinosaur, 2017’s Coco, and 2020’s Onward. However, relative to pre-release projections, it’s almost unquestionably the most disappointing Pixar opening weekend to date.

Compared to some other recent major animated action films, it also starts:

  • -29% below April’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ($72.1M)
  • -9% below 2014’s Big Hero 6 ($56.2M)
  • -26% below 2014’s The Lego Movie ($69.0M)
  • -9% below 2018’s Ralph Breaks the Internet ($56.2M)

Why?

What went wrong here?

For one thing, the three prior Pixar feature films were all released exclusively to Disney Plus: 2020’s Soul, 2021’s Luca, and March’s Turning Red. As a result, audiences had become somewhat conditioned to think of Pixar releases as “free,” or at least with no additional cost beyond their $8/month subscription.

Several additional elements made it unlike the four box office smash Toy Story films that audiences had come to know and love: the tone was more action-based rather than comedic, there was a sole protagonist instead of an ensemble cast, and Chris Evans replaced Tim Allen as the titular character’s voice.

Lastly, you can’t ignore the reception. As of this writing, Lightyear currently holds a 5.2 average user rating on IMDb, a full point below Pixar’s next-lowest-rated film Cars 2 (6.2).

Other Lightyear stats

The audience for Lightyear was 52% male. That’s lower than for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (57%), but higher than for Toy Story 4 (48%), Incredibles 2 (also 48%), and Ralph Breaks the Internet (49%).

The nostalgia factor was also clearly at play for older crowds, with the audience only 46% younger than 25. Again comparing to those aforementioned films, that’s notably lower than for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (67%), Toy Story 4 (55%), Incredibles 2 (56%), or Ralph Breaks the Internet (57%).

Overseas, Lightyear debuted with $34.6M in 43 markets, for an $85.6M global weekend. Top markets included Mexico ($8.1M) and the U.K. ($4.0M). 

Put another way, the film’s global take was lower than what some had projected for its domestic debut alone.

The film was banned in at least 14 countries because of a brief same-sex kiss, and has not yet been dated for China, leading to speculation it may not see a release in that nation either.

Cruising altitude

Last month, Paramount’s action-adventure sequel Top Gun: Maverick debuted with “only” the #39 opening weekend of all time (now down one spot to #40 thanks to Dominion.)

Then, due to superb word of mouth, the film declined only -29% in its sophomore frame, the mildest such drop among any film to ever debut at $100M+. Accordingly, it ascended to the #8 second weekend of all time.

Then in its third frame, it remained in that “top-10” tier, declining only -42% despite the huge opening of Jurassic World: Dominion to capture the #10 third weekend of all time.

This weekend, it experiences its mildest drop yet at only -15%, to $44.0M. That marks the #3 fourth weekend of all time, behind only American Sniper ($89.2M) and Avatar ($50.3M) and just ahead of Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($42.3M).

(And Sniper’s top ranking comes with an asterisk, as the film’s fourth frame marked its nationwide expansion after spending its first three frames in limited release.)

Maverick totals

Domestically, Maverick is the highest-grossing film of 2022 so far, outperforming the year’s second-biggest such title, Disney’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Despite Maverick posting an opening weekend -32% behind Multiverse, it overtook Multiverse on their respective 10th days of release (their second Sundays). With $466.1M total, it’s now running +15% ahead.

Ditto for The Batman, currently the third-biggest film of the year. Maverick opened -5% behind it, but overtook it on their respective fourth days of release (their first Mondays).

Maverick has earned $466.1M domestic, $419.0M overseas, and $885.1M globally. That’s the second-biggest global total of 2022 so far.

It also means 52% of its global earnings have come domestically, a rare feat in this day and age for a film at this level, helped in no small part because the film has not been released in China.

Top markets include the U.K. ($71.5M), Japan ($42.8M), Australia ($40.1M), France ($34.5M), Germany ($20.9M), Brazil ($16.3M), Taiwan ($13.7M), Mexico ($11.5M), Saudi Arabia ($11.2M), and Italy ($10.3M).

The doctor will see you now

Disney and Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness declined only -19% to $4.2M and fourth place.

Multiverse has now earned $405.0M domestically, $537.4M overseas, and $942.5M globally. That’s the top global gross of 2022 to date, and second-biggest Hollywood release of the pandemic era behind only 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Top markets to date include the U.K. ($51.8M), South Korea ($49.3M), Mexico ($41.0M), Brazil ($33.5M), France ($28.3M), Australia ($26.7M), Germany ($23.9M), Indonesia ($21.0M), India ($20.4M), and Japan ($16.6M).

‘All’ together now

A24’s sci-fi comedy Everything Everywhere All at Once declined -27% to $959K in seventh place.

It’s now earned $64.9M, padding its lead as the top film in the history of indie distributor A24, ahead of 2019’s Uncut Gems ($50.0M), 2017’s Lady Bird ($48.9M), and 2018’s Hereditary ($44.0M).

This also marks its 12th weekend in the box office top 10, despite never ranking above #4 on any given frame.

Weekend comparisons

Total box office this weekend came in around $162.8M, which is:

  • -24% below last weekend’s total ($214.8M), when Jurassic World: Dominion led with $145.0M.
  • 2.8x above the equivalent weekend in 2021 ($57.3M), when A Quiet Place Part II led with a second nonconsecutive frame with $12.0M.
  • +19% above the equivalent weekend in the last pre-pandemic year 2019 ($135.9M), when Men in Black: International led with $30.0M.

YTD comparisons

Year-to-date box office stands around $3.39B. That’s:

  • 3.83x this same point in the pandemic recovery year of 2021 ($866.M).
  • -35.3% behind this same point in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year ($5.12B).

That’s the best YTD mark 2022 has notched relative to 2019 to date.

Top distributors

Paramount still leads by a considerable margin. If Lightyear had come in on the high end of expectations, it could have vaulted Disney as high as second place, just ahead of Universal. Instead, Disney remains in fifth place among the so-called “Big Five” distributors.

  1. Paramount ($903.7M)
  2. Universal ($508.4M)
  3. Sony Pictures ($486.0M)
  4. Warner Bros. ($476.2M)
  5. Disney ($462.7M)

Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates: 

Title  Estimated weekend  % change Locations Location change Average  Total  Weekend Distributor
Jurassic World: Dominion $58,660,000 -60% 4,697 21 $12,489 $249,796,690 2 Universal
Lightyear $51,000,000   4,255   $11,986 $51,000,000 1 Walt Disney
Top Gun: Maverick $44,000,000 -15% 4,035 -227 $10,905 $466,167,545 4 Paramount
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness $4,200,000 -19% 2,465 -880 $1,704 $405,083,660 7 Walt Disney
The Bob’s Burgers Movie $1,100,000 -55% 1,350 -1,255 $815 $29,762,030 4 20th Century Studios
The Bad Guys $980,000 -61% 1,477 -939 $664 $94,239,005 9 Universal
Everything Everywhere All At Once $959,631 -27% 679 -755 $1,413 $64,920,186 13 A24
Downton Abbey: A New Era $830,000 -53% 1,179 -832 $704 $42,196,350 5 Focus Features
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 $228,392 -70% 439 -628 $520 $190,478,000 11 Paramount
Brian and Charles $198,000   279   $710 $198,000 1 Focus Features
Firestarter $157,000 -81% 40 -110 $3,925 $9,528,740 6 Universal
The Lost City $154,434 -72% 135 -218 $1,144 $105,262,000 13 Paramount
Crimes of the Future $101,500 -73% 122 -590 $832 $2,367,981 3 Neon
Watcher $95,000 -72% 136 -520 $699 $1,871,493 3 IFC Midnight
Abandoned $60,500   54   $1,120 $60,500 1 Vertical Entertainment
Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story $35,686 -45% 41 -20 $870 $360,595 3 Fin and Fur
Mad God $35,000 316% 26 24 $1,346 $50,113 2 Shudder
Official Competition $34,000   4   $8,500 $34,000 1 IFC Films
Men $18,887 -74% 68 -148 $278 $7,571,216 5 A24
Lost Illusions $15,984 5% 9 3 $1,776 $41,091 2 Music Box Films
The Automat $1,050 -21% 2 n/c $525 $242,211 18 A Slice of Pie Productions
Photo Credits: Disney & Pixar ("Lightyear")