Variety reports the movie starring Chris Pratt "opened to a staggering $511.8 million worldwide, the highest global bow of all time" and "the first time a film has ever grossed more than $500 million in a single weekend."
The numbers are somewhat inflated because they include box office numbers from Wednesday and Thursday, but it's still an amazing opening for the newest visit to the franchise. The high totals also reflect the growing importance of foreign markets; in China, the movie grossed $100 million.
The bad news is that the film received a low to middling critical reception, with many reviewers noting the awkward dialogue and script, but the creators were probably hoping you were paying more attention to the gigantic dinosaurs.
As Entertainment Weekly reports, Jurassic World only narrowly missed becoming the biggest domestic opener in U.S. history. At $204.5 million across the U.S., it was only a few million dollars short of dethroning The Avengers, which grossed $207.4 million in 2012.
Not bad for a franchise that hasn't seen a release since 2001. Apparently dinosaurs — and nostalgia — still sell predictably well.
Nick Carpou, Universal Studios president of domestic distribution, told Variety the movie was succeeding because "Dinosaurs are fascinating to everyone. It's cross-cultural."
Among the others who will be breathing easily is star Pratt, who has spent most of the last few months preemptively apologizing for offensive remarks he might make during the press tour.
Correction: June 15, 2015
An earlier version of this article conflated Chris Pratt with Avengers: Age of Ultron stars Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner, who apologized for demeaning remarks they made about a female co-star during that film's press tour.
This weekend me and my 10 year old saw this movie in 3D to a packed house. Although we had to sit in the second row from the front (which is looking up at the screen) it was A-MAZING!!! Seeing a movie in 3D definitely has its benefits and being that close up to the screen made me feel like stuff was being thrown at me from the movie. I used the startle reflex, throwing my hands up to protect my face a few times .... Anyway, its a must see and definitely see it in 3D. Its worth it. Plus there are some real neat things that they put in to make you think back to J. Park series.