‘Jurassic World’ savages competitors at box office
Published: 22 Jun. 2015, 20:16
Universal’s “Jurassic World” pulled off another astounding score at Korea’s box office with more than 1 million tickets sold over the weekend, towing its two-week total to nearly 3.5 million tickets or 30 billion won ($27 million).
In North American theaters, it took in $102 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, making it only the second release to break $100 million in its second week. The enormous holdover for “Jurassic World,” which last week set an opening weekend record with $208.8 million, has been bested by only 2012’s “The Avengers,” which made $103.1 million in second week.
The unexpected sensation of the Colin Trevorrow-directed, Steven Spielberg-produced fourth entry in the franchise had turned Disney’s $175 million 3-D “Inside Out” into an underdog expected to merely nip at the heels of “Jurassic World.” But the emotional “Inside Out,” about the voices inside an 11-year-old girl’s head, blew past its own forecasts to set records, too.
It came to a close match with a $91.1 million debut, well above expectations.
“Inside Out” was the first Pixar release not to open in first place, following an unparalleled two-decade streak of 14 straight no. 1s. But it is the largest opening for a wholly original movie (one not based on source material or a sequel), unseating “Avatar” in that distinction. Directed by Pete Docter (“Up”) and co-directed by Ronaldo del Carmen, “Inside Out” had been expected to open in the range of previous Pixar non-sequels like “Wall-E” ($63.8 million) and “Brave” ($66.3 million).
But “Inside Out” was propelled by gushing reviews from critics, a flashy premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and an appetite for a movie from Pixar. The animation studio has not had a release in two years after delaying “The Good Dinosaur” last year.
“We came into the weekend thinking we’d do something in the 60s,” said Dave Hollis, distribution head for Disney. “As we got closer to release, we hit a critical mass of really unbelievable critical response. In this day and age where technology allows people to see a Rotten Tomatoes score or read something and pass it along to their friends, all of a sudden, there was quite a stir about this as a thing to see.”
Meanwhile in Korea, Kwak Kyung-taek’s “The Classified File,” based on a real kidnapping incident that happened in Busan in 1978, debuted in second place with 980,000 tickets sold. It stars experienced actors Kim Yun-seok and Yoo Hae-jin as detective Gong Gil-yong and fortune-teller Kim Joong-san, who play critical roles in getting back an abducted child alive.
In third place was Lee Hae-young’s mystery movie “The Silenced” with 201,605 tickets sold. With up-and-coming actress Park Bo-young in the lead, the film depicts a string of mysterious incidents at an isolated dormitory in the 1930s where girls start to disappear one by one.
BY JIN EUN-SOO, AP [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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