So this is it – today’s the day a film about dinosaurs broke the record for the shortest time to take $1bn in global box office receipts.
No, we’re not talking about Fifa’s homage to itself, United Passions. We are, of course, talking about Jurassic World – the film that’s got kids whipped up into annoying states of frenzy, and their parents wondering why on earth it’s taken Hollywood so long.
I’m jumping the gun a bit. We won’t know for sure if Jurassic World has hit the $1bn marker until tomorrow. But it’s looking likely according to Mark Hughes’ surprisingly complicated break-down on Forbes.com.
What we do know is that Jurassic World has already blown away box-office receipts. In its opening weekend, it raked in £329m worldwide. That’s the highest amount of any film, knocking Harry Potter off the top spot.
In 2011, the boy wizard could only conjure up £311m on the opening weekend for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part two. Before I offend the legions of crazed Harry Potter fans out there (and yes, they’re organised), that’s not bad. The previous record for an opening weekend was held by, you’ve guessed it, Harry Potter. The Half-Blood Prince took £253m in 2009.
You may have noticed a pattern emerging here. Namely, that originality counts for little. If it’s box office bling you’re after, it pays not to stray from the golden path. Of the top ten opening-weekend highest earners, nine are sequels.
And the only one that strictly speaking isn’t is The Avengers (superheroes, not Emma Peel, sadly). But even that is a strange melange of all the other superhero films that had gone on before – Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, etc.
Spare a thought for Spider-Man. Though technically an ‘Avenger’, at least in the comics, he didn’t get his invitation to join the cast. But he does make the top ten list at number eight, with Spider-Man 3 (2007, £245m).
Three Spider-Man films – that’s got to be pushing it. Surely, the cinema-going public have had their fill after the third film. Nope. Coming in at number three in the top-ten list is car-porn flick Fast & Furious 7 (or just Furious 7 to the initiated, earning £256m in its first weekend earlier this year). Taken together, the franchise has made a staggering $3.9bn to date.
So, the lesson for budding film producers is, if you have the good fortune to hit upon a box-office winner, flog it to death.
• Incidentally, check out the latest hil-arious internet fad at the moment at #JurassicZoo. Zoo keepers around the globe are re-enacting the scene from Jurassic World, where Chris Pratt finds himself face-to-face with a pack of velociraptors, by posing with their fluffier charges (though I haven’t seen any do it in the tiger enclosure – yet).