'Jurassic World' crushes Friday for $155M-Plus US debut

Universal’s Jurassic World is devouring everything in its path at the Friday box office for a projected North American debut of $155 million-plus — one of the best showings in recent times.

The $150 million tentpole, rescuing the dinosaur franchise from near-extinction, is expected to earn $65 million-plus on Friday alone says The Hollywood Reporter. That includes $18.5 million from Thursday evening previews, the biggest late-night showing ever for Universal after Furious 7 ($15.8 million).

Overseas, the dinosaurs are also bigger-than-life. On Thursday, the movie grossed another $41.6 million from 37 markets for a two-day total of $65.6 million from 45 markets. It is No. 1 everywhere.

If it indeed crosses $150 million domestically, Jurassic World would best Universal’s Furious 7 ($147.2 million) to mark the second-best opening of the year to date behind Disney and Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron ($191.3 million).

Jurassic World, playing in 4,273 theaters domestically and opening 22 years after Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park hit theaters, is getting the widest release ever for a Universal title. Overseas, the fourth installment is rolling out across the world, grossing north of $21 million from its first eight markets on Wednesday, including $17.2 million in China according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In the film, Chris Pratt stars as a dinosaur trainer at the massive Jurassic World park. But when a genetically engineered dinosaur gets loose in the park, he and park manager (Bryce Dallas Howard) are tasked with stopping the animal before it kills thousands of park visitors. Vincent D’Onofrio, Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson also star.

Colin Trevorrow directed the action-adventure movie – which is the weekend’s only new wide release – based on characters created by Michael Crichton.

Legendary co-financed the film, with Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment co-producing.

According to early exits polls conducted by industry leader Rentrak, Jurassic World is appealing to both younger moviegoers and older consumers drawn in by the nostalgia factor, good news for the filmmakers. And the definite recommend score is 73 percent.

“The definite recommend is among the highest we have measured across all audience demographics,” said Rentrak box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian.