It looks like people haven't let go of their fascination with dinosaurs just yet as Colin Trevorrow's "Jurassic World" broke box office records by earning a whopping $524 million worldwide on its opening weekend in cinemas.
In the US, the movie raked in $208.8 million in its Friday to Sunday debut, according to the Rentrak media-measurement company, surpassing Marvel's "The Avengers," the erstwhile all-time US opening weekend top grosser, which took in $207.4 million back in 2012.
Twenty-two years have passed since "Jurassic Park," the first installment in the film franchise, had moviegoers at the edge of their seats in 1993. Nostalgia for the franchise as well as effective marketing helped "Jurassic World" beat analyst predictions of a $125 million opening take for the film.
"This over-performed in a way that I've never seen," Rentrak's Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian said. "It broke the box office sound barrier."
It also helped that the lead actor Chris Pratt, who played the character Owen Grady in the film, is currently one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, following his 2014 box office hits "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "The Lego Movie."
"He's like Jimmy Stewart with a leather vest and muscles," Dergarbedian said. "He's a great modern-day action hero."
Unlike many Hollywood stars, Pratt is not afraid to share his Christian faith. During an interview with People, Pratt revealed that his son Jack's premature birth back in August 2012 helped him strengthen his faith in God.
"We were scared for a long time," he said, noting that Jack was in the hospital's intensive care unit for a month. "We prayed a lot."
"It restored my faith in God, not that it needed to be restored, but it really redefined it," Pratt added. "The baby was so beautiful to us, and I look back at the photos of him and it must have been jarring for other people to come in and see him, but to us he was so beautiful and perfect."
