Jurassic World: Dominion Sets A Terrible Franchise Record

Jurassic World: Dominion is setting a terrible new record for the franchise. This set of movies could definitely go out with a whimper

By Charlene Badasie | Published

jurassic world: dominion

Billed as an epic conclusion to the Jurassic Era, Jurassic World: Dominion has set a brand new record. But it’s definitely not one the studio or cast was hoping for. The latest installment in the popular dinosaur franchise has been severely maligned by critics, resulting in a dreadful 37% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The score even surpassed the franchise’s previous lowest-ranked movie, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which still only holds a 47% rating.

While there’s no escaping the frighteningly low critics score, it will probably change as more reviews are released. Unfortunately, the bad start may have tainted Jurassic Word: Dominion’s opening weekend. The film’s projected domestic box office earnings have dropped to $125 million from the initial estimate of between $165-205 million for the opening weekend. However, if audiences aren’t influenced by all the poor reviews, that figure could still change.

The original Jurassic Park movie was hailed by critics and audiences around the world at the time of its release – a stark contrast to Jurassic World: Dominion. But since then, the franchise has struggled to recreate the magic of the 1993 sci-fi action film. Helmed by film-making genius Steven Spielberg, The Lost World: Jurassic Park did not live up to the hype of his first dinosaur offering, holding a just above average critics score. Joe Johnston’s 2001 follow-up, Jurassic Park III is even worse with just 48%.  

The Jurassic World trilogy initially showed promise, with the first film earning a 71% approval rating. But things went steadily downhill after that as Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom received mixed reviews from critics, who criticized the screenplay and felt the series had run its course. And if the overall consensus about Jurassic World: Dominion is anything indication of what to expect, it seems like the franchise truly is extinct. However, it’s always best to judge for yourself because critics aren’t always right.

Directed by Colin Trevorrow from a script he co-wrote with Emily Carmichael, Jurassic World: Dominion serves as a direct sequel to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. It is also the final film in the Jurassic World trilogy and concludes the story that began in the original Jurassic Park trilogy. Alexandra Derbyshire serves as executive producer alongside Trevorrow and original dino-mastermind Steven Spielberg.

Jurassic World: Dominion is set four years after the Lockwood estate incident when captive dinosaurs were released into the wild by a human clone. Over the years, the vicious creatures started to live (and hunt) alongside their human counterparts. As such, the story essentially examines how this fragile balance will reshape the future, determining whether humans actually are the ultimate apex predators on a planet they now share with the most fearsome creatures in history.

The highly anticipated film features an ensemble cast that includes Chris Pratt, Laura Dern, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill, Daniella Pineda, Isabella Sermon, Justice Smith, Omar Sy, and BD Wong. Mamoudou Athie, Scott Haze, Dichen Lachman, DeWanda Wise, and Campbell Scott also star. Jurassic World: Dominion is set to hit theaters this Friday, June 10th.