IMAX and 3D proved to be as adept at reviving dinosaurs as the dino DNA in “Jurassic Park,” with the 1993 movie setting records at the box-office again this weekend with a fourth-ranked $18.2 million from 2,771 location in North America, and $3 mil. internationally for a global total of $21 mil.
Meanwhile, 3D continued to generate fire for two of the three top films of the weekend, the stone-age animated feature “Croods” ($21 mil. in its third week; $126 mil. to date in North America, and $331 mil. globally) and the sequel film based on a Hasbro doll for boys, “G.I. Joe: Retalation” ($21 mil.; $87 mil. after two weeks in North America; and $232 mil. globally).
Thanks to the terrific 2D-to-3D conversion by Stereo D and the opportunity to see the groundbreaking “Jurassic Park” on the big screen again, even bigger and more dynamic than ever in IMAX, showings in the giant screen format accounted for more than $6 mil., around 32% – the highest IMAX share ever for a nationwide release, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.
“Jurassic” also surpassed “Titanic’s” 3D rerelease ($17.3 mil.) and wasn’t far off “Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace’s” ($22.5 mil.).
A fourth 3D movie in the top ten for the weekend, “Oz: The Great and Powerful,” which also started out in IMAX, collected another $8 mil. in its fifth week of release for a total domestic total to date of $213 mil. and a global haul of $454 mil.
“Jurassic Park” was groundbreaking on multiple fronts when it was initially released, both in theaters and later for home video, not only as the first major movie to seamlessly blend digital creatures with physical “animatronics” produced by the late Stan Winston, but also as the first major theatrical release with the 5.1 surround sound by the then-new Digital Theater System. It later became the first home video release with DTS on the 1997 laser disc edition.
Like his “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park” doesn’t have quite the impact or awe that it did initially now that the visual effects are commonplace and we are left with only the story and characters, which feel a little lighter than necessary. Laura Dern’s character and acting suffer the most from the additional focus. Standing out now is her scientist character — the only major woman in the large cast — being saddled with the rather stereotypical female tendency of manipulating her boyfriend to develop an emotional open-mindedness to children.
But the two-hour-plus movie is certainly still compelling, especially with all the new 3D and giant-screen elements to observe and enjoy, and both technologies expose far more than we ever noticed before. That begins with the impressive 3D version of the iconic Universal Pictures logo and is visible in nearly every shot of the film. The two stand-out moments come in the scene when the vehicle is dropping limb-by-limb down a tree just above Sam Neill and the earnest young boy, and later near the end in the visitors center when the velociraptor pokes its head from under the plastic tarp — it’s one of the moments that the image appears to push slightly off the screen.
But the expertly added dimension and size of the movie in IMAX 3D add visual and emotional depth and scope to every frame of the movie.
— By Scott Hettrick