Last week, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom joined its predecessor in the three-comma club as it crossed $1 billion worldwide at the box office. While this performance was predicted, it is still impressive and justifies the massive marketing campaign for the film. Crossing the $1 billion mark also makes Universal's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom the only movie so far this year to reach that benchmark without being released by Disney.
Even though Solo: A Star Wars Story underperformed, the first half of 2018 has still largely belonged to the House of Mouse. Although there have been plenty of blockbusters, only three have earned that billion with a 'b' distinction, and both were released by the studio: Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War. Those two both made a billion dollars worldwide, with Black Panther earning $1.34 billion and Infinity War hitting the mark twice over to the tune of $2.04 billion. Now with a current box office of $1.06 billion, according to Box Office Mojo, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom joins them. The dinosaur extravaganza has done especially well overseas too, with $727.6 million of its worldwide haul coming from foreign markets (it should be recognized it was released early overseas). Fallen Kingdom is far from finished too, as it was still second at the domestic box office this past weekend, pulling in $28.6 million.
I think at the start of the year we might have expected Solo to be among the billion dollar earners, but even without it Disney's dominance is apparent. The studio's powerful brands deliver major returns at the box office, and the other studios are doing their best to compete. And, as we've learned, the best way to do so is with powerful brands. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has the benefit of the Jurassic brand, nostalgia and dinosaurs, but it still shows that it's not only lightsabers and superheroes that can deliver such windfalls.
Rounding out the top five at the worldwide box office this year are some of 2018's other biggest titles that haven't quite hit that $1 billion mark, including Disney's Incredibles 2 and Fox's Deadpool 2. Looking ahead at the rest of the year, it becomes clear how front-loaded this year was, with three MCU titles, a Star Wars movie, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and two video game adaptations (one of which starred The Rock), and a Steven Spielberg film. The back half of the year doesn't have quite as many obvious box office winners or contenders to enter the billion-dollar club, but there are a few that could really make a run if they hit in the right way. Some of those looking to join in the ticket selling bonanza include Sony's Spider-Man spinoff Venom, the Wizarding World title Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, _the DCEU film _Aquaman, and the animated Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is in theaters now. To see all of the biggest movies hitting theaters in the rest of 2018, check out our release schedule.
