It’s hard to believe that it has been 20 years since Steven Spielberg brought dinosaurs back to life in his blockbuster hit, Jurassic Park. Since then, the film has spawned two sequels, but now another series of movies is upon us. The latest, Jurassic World Dominion, has broken opening weekend box office records, with $198 million domestically in the first three days and more than $1 billion worldwide since its June 12 release.
Jurassic Park Reigning in Audiences
It’s hard to fault Universal Studios for wanting more. After all, they’ve made over $3 billion from just four films in 25 years, but it also doesn’t have to be so big. Bigger sets, bigger dinosaurs, and bigger box office numbers don’t necessarily equate to a better film, and there comes a point where you have to wonder how much longer can Jurassic Park continue? And why does Hollywood always have to go bigger? The original Jurassic Park stands tall as one of the best science fiction films ever made and its sequel was no slouch either. In fact, many fans consider both of them to be two of Spielberg’s best films. So why do studios keep trying to make these movies bigger? We already know that people love dinosaurs and will pay money to see them on screen. That is proven time and time again with every new movie about King Kong or Godzilla that hits theaters, but we’ve seen enough now.
The Biggest Jurassic Film Ever
Jurassic World is a relatively big film, with a cast of characters spanning two generations and multiple subplots, both of which seem to be setting up future installments. Compared to its predecessors, Jurassic World boasts an extra 11 minutes of runtime and several new characters—such as Lowery Cruthers, Irrfan Khan’s Simon Masrani, and B.D. Wong’s Dr. Henry Wu—all of whom could potentially appear in future installments as well. All of these factors add up to make Jurassic World one of the biggest films ever, especially considering that it’s only been out a few days. How much longer can Universal sustain success?: However, some fans may wonder how long Universal can sustain such success for their franchise.
The Darth Vader Effect
Why the expansion? Because we demand it, and we have been demanding it ever since Darth Vader’s unveiling of Luke Skywalker’s parentage in 1980. That move had sequels that, like The Temple of Doom (1984) and The Dark Knight (2008), sought to follow the success of Empire Strikes Back. But there were successes and failures. Nevertheless, our fandom, our social media chat, and especially our willingness to spend our money (we want bigger, longer, more chasing), all send a message to producers that we want more: more time, more characters, more set pieces, and higher stakes.
A Delicate Balance; Disgruntled Fans
And on the other hand, audiences yearn for a connection to that feeling they felt when they first saw the movie. Creating this balance proves difficult. Unfortunately, this can be the fate of sequels like Jurassic World and The Force Awakens, which some find too similar to the original films, or Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which are criticized for straying too far from the franchise. It might be just me, but there seems to be a push lately to look to the past, such as in Jurassic World Dominion and The Rise of Skywalker, films that left many fans disgruntled.
Top Gun Aced the Box Office Doing the Opposite
Chief among the factors that make Top Gun: Maverick a major success since it premiered over Memorial Day weekend is that it’s not Top Gun 5. Hollywood’s favorite old film trend has largely been put on the back burner in the two decades since Tom Cruise last teamed up with Tony Scott for a live-action film of ‘Top Gun’ in 1986. Though I do feel like we’ve got one with some creativity and staying power with Joseph Kosinski directing and Tom Cruise anchoring things in what will likely be the last big-screen adventure for the icon. Unfortunately, no new film in the Mission: Impossible series. But Maverick can break free of the expectations of a Top Gun movie. It eschews this nostalgia by presenting its own so it can beat the original without undoing the franchise. And doing all of that while still making an entertaining blockbuster. That’s pretty impressive.
The Original is Always the Masterpiece
Jurassic Park is a work of sheer cinematic genius, but for future installments to succeed, we need to know that the original cannot be matched. To some, this means calling time of death on the franchise. They show us, however, that making a sequel doesn’t have to be pointless. We may end up with more bad sequels that are reminiscent of what we started with, but who knows, maybe on the other side, there’s something beautiful or big like what inspired Crichton and Spielberg to begin with. That’s more of a legacy than most franchises can hope for.
