MOVIE NEWS – The summer of 2025 is shaping up to be a true blockbuster battle, as heavy hitters like Superman, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, How to Train Your Dragon, and Lilo & Stitch all vie for the title of the season’s biggest movie. Lilo & Stitch has already staked its claim as a major contender, but Jurassic World: Rebirth is also in the running. Earlier this year, Fandango users voted Jurassic World: Rebirth as the most anticipated film of the summer, which doesn’t guarantee box office supremacy, but certainly shows where audiences’ interest was pointing.

The Jurassic franchise has long dominated the box office, with audiences continually drawn in by dinosaurs. Based on its history, Jurassic World: Rebirth seems destined for billion-dollar territory. While Universal Pictures is counting on a major turnout for Independence Day weekend, Jurassic World: Rebirth may not be the sure-fire hit everyone is expecting. The prior films’ increasingly negative word of mouth has already dented box office returns, and Rebirth could finally pay the price. Looking back at the franchise’s trajectory shows there’s precedent for a stumble – and history just might repeat itself.

Common wisdom says Jurassic World: Rebirth will be the summer’s biggest draw, considering the previous three Jurassic World entries all smashed box office records. However, each film has earned less than its predecessor. Jurassic World was the absolute juggernaut of summer 2015, beating out favorites like Avengers: Age of Ultron. Nostalgia was running high after a fourteen-year gap, and the film raked in $652 million domestically and $1.6 billion worldwide, setting a then-record $208 million opening weekend. Only Star Wars: The Force Awakens managed to outgross it that year.

2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom pulled in $417 million in the US and $1.3 billion globally—over $200 million less domestically than its predecessor, trailing behind Avengers: Infinity War and Incredibles 2. Jurassic World: Dominion opened in 2022, delayed by the pandemic, and while it was a needed hit for theaters, it only managed $376 million domestically and $1.01 billion worldwide. The continued drop-off points to waning audience enthusiasm, pandemic or not.

Negative buzz has been a persistent problem for the series. Each new film has had to overcome the bad taste left by the previous one—and for Rebirth, that means contending with Dominion’s much-maligned subplot and mishandled character crossovers. The nostalgia edge is also gone, as only three years have passed since the last film, possibly leading to Jurassic fatigue for many moviegoers.

Jurassic World: Rebirth Is Eerily Reminiscent of Jurassic Park III

Jurassic World: Rebirth is one of three high-profile July releases, alongside Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. While buzz for both superhero movies is intense—especially with Fantastic Four’s pre-sales crashing ticket sites—industry observers suggest those films may face even steeper challenges than Jurassic World: Rebirth. That said, Rebirth itself is far from a guaranteed hit; in fact, it may share more in common with Jurassic Park III than with its blockbuster predecessors.

Jurassic Park III hit theaters in 2001, and though the original Jurassic Park was a record-breaking behemoth, the third entry only managed a $50 million opening, $22 million below The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Its domestic haul of $181 million made it the year’s ninth biggest film, trailing behind the likes of Pearl Harbor, The Mummy Returns, Rush Hour 2, and Shrek. The idea that a Jurassic movie is always destined for box office gold has already been disproven—and may be again.

The similarities between Rebirth and Jurassic Park III are striking: both favor episodic adventure set pieces, with the basic premise involving a group stranded on the island. Jurassic Park III started production with an unfinished script and a tumultuous shoot, just as Universal fast-tracked Rebirth, announcing it in January 2024 and quickly seeking a director who wouldn’t demand auteur-level control. Gareth Edwards joined the project a month later, and filming began in June—barely a year before its release.

What Are Jurassic World: Rebirth’s Real Box Office Prospects?

While Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps are both trying to rebrand previously struggling franchises, Jurassic World: Rebirth seems content to stick to the tried-and-true formula. The question is whether that’s enough to get people to buy tickets in an age of economic uncertainty. Word of mouth could lift it if the film is genuinely strong, but so far, trailers have failed to inspire confidence among fans.

It would take a disaster for Rebirth to bomb outright, especially with its Fourth of July opening and an 11-day head start before Superman arrives. Worldwide, the movie is all but certain to turn a solid profit, but its chances of becoming the king of summer are far murkier than the pundits suggest. It’s been a decade since Jurassic World blew past expectations, but Rebirth is entering theaters with less audience goodwill, possibly seen as just another redundant sequel rather than a triumphant return or meaningful evolution for the series. The franchise could find itself in the same boat as Transformers: once a surefire summer hit, always pulling in a billion—until one day, the audiences simply stopped showing up. Jurassic World: Rebirth opens July 2, 2025.

Source: MovieWeb