Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Headed For Massive $140 Million Debut

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Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is expected to smash the box office in its upcoming debut, with analysts predicting a $140-150 million opening weekend. The dinosaurs returned in 2015 with Jurassic World, which performed even better than expected with a staggering $208 million opening weekend and an eventual worldwide gross of $1.67 billion. Now Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are returning, along with Jurassic Park's own Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm, for a second adventure that sees shady military types attempting to weaponize genetically-engineered dinosaurs. What could possibly go wrong?

The first Jurassic World movie was directed by Colin Trevorrow, but J.A. Bayona (A Monster Calls) takes over for the sequel, in which Owen (Pratt) and Claire (Howard) are called back to Jurassic World to try and save the dinosaurs from an erupting volcano. Among the rescue targets is Owen's old friend Blue, the raptor whom who had (mostly) tamed in the first movie. However, it soon transpires that the "rescue mission" was motivated by greed after Owen inadvertently proved that dinosaurs could be trained - a lucrative idea.

Speaking of lucrative ideas, Variety reports that early tracking shows Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom heading for a $140 to $150 million opening weekend when it debuts on June 22. Its worldwide release has been staggered, so the movie will begin to open in international markets - including the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, France and Russia - as early as next week, and will release in China (where Jurassic World grossed $228 million) on June 15. All told, Fallen Kingdom will already have made a considerable amount of money by the time it hits that massive domestic opening weekend.

Though those projections look impressive, there's reason to be cautious about Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom's box office prospects. The first movie received mixed-to-positive reviews, but hasn't had much of an impact on the cultural landscape since its release, and Fallen Kingdom doesn't have the benefit of being the first Jurassic Park movie in more than a decade. With that said, if Fallen Kingdom has strong legs and performs well overseas, it stands a good chance of breaking the billion dollar mark by the end of its theatrical run.

The trailers have been somewhat lackluster, but dinosaurs are generally an easy sell and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has the benefit of bringing back Goldblum to deliver that "life finds a way" line once more. What's more, early reactions to the movie have been very positive, describing it as "the continuation the saga deserves" and "a fast-paced rollercoaster." If the reviews and word-of-mouth prove equally strong, Fallen Kingdom could perform even better than expected.