Jurassic World Dominion is currently sitting in Netflix and Amazon Prime Video’s international top ten. The film earned a comically huge box office take when it dropped in 2022, but critics weren’t particularly kind to it. Its current streaming success offers no surprises, but splitting that performance across two services demonstrates an outstanding performance. Universal’s third attempt to resurrect the beloved franchise can attract all the viewers it wants, but that won’t make it a good movie.
Jurassic World Dominion Sinks Its Claws Into Netflix and Amazon
The Jurassic World franchise is a perfect encapsulation of the grim fate of every successful franchise in modern Hollywood. Each entry stripped away the fun, creativity, and cultural impact of its predecessors to sell a glossier package. When people say, “They don’t make them like they used to,” they’re talking about things like this. Jurassic World was a bizarrely empty spectacle that rode the Force Awakens wave into financial success. Its follow-up, Fallen Kingdom, cost more, earned less, and struggled to reach the bare minimum of cinematic storytelling. Jurassic World Dominion cynically dragged Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum back into the spotlight to sell tickets. It was reasonable of them to recognize that their new characters were terrible, but begging the old standbys to save the day feels desperate. The trilogy didn’t have far to fall, but it still managed to dig new graves with each installment.
Jurassic World Dominion fell between the first and second films’ budgets. Fallen Kingdom cost an astonishing $432 million to make. Its predecessor represented a relatively reasonable $150–215 million investment. Dominion cost only $265 million, representing a lesson learned. Conversely, each film earned less money at the box office. This is the gradual consequence of bad word-of-mouth. Granted, Dominion still brought in more than $1 billion, but Jurassic World cleared its box office by over $600 million. Critics also lost interest in each entry. The first film claimed a healthy 71% positive score on Rotten Tomatoes. Fallen Kingdom dropped to 46%, and Dominion claimed a withering 29%. I think it’s fair to say that any Jurassic project will reap massive financial rewards, but it’s good to see the gimmick suffer diminishing returns. Netflix and Amazon audiences may have missed it on the big screen, but they’re catching it now.
One of the most unfortunate aspects of Jurassic World Dominion‘s current success is the timing. The film hit Netflix’s top ten almost three weeks ago, though it isn’t available in every region. American viewers won’t find it on the service. If you are in the United States and interested in watching Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum have a dinosaur adventure, you’re out of luck. The original Jurassic Park trilogy will leave Netflix as April turns to May. While we can certainly find them elsewhere, it’s funny to watch the classics disappear while their sad imitations become success stories.
