Fireworks, barbecues, and the rumble of genetically resurrected dinosaurs—that’s how America’s spending its Fourth of July.
And frankly? It makes a weird kind of sense.
After a box office drought that’s left even the diehards restless, Jurassic World Rebirth is pulling something of a miracle. With a $26M Friday and a projected $145M holiday weekend, Universal’s nostalgia play isn’t just working—it’s devouring competition like a raptor in a goat pen. The three-day domestic total? $80M. Worldwide? North of $320M. That’s not survival. That’s domination.
Back to Basics—And Then Some
Gareth Edwards, whose best work (Rogue One) still feels like a studio gamble that paid off, directs this latest dino-frenzy. He’s working from a script by David Koepp—yes, that David Koepp—and Spielberg is back, lurking in the producer’s seat like a benevolent fossil. The result is a “back to basics” effort that’s loud, chaotic, sometimes awe-inspiring, and mostly… fine?
Scarlett Johansson leads a fresh cast that includes Mahershala Ali (underused but magnetic), Jonathan Bailey, and Rupert Friend. They’re all doing their best in what’s essentially a high-gloss B-movie with legacy-budget sheen. There are set pieces, roars, callbacks, and a surprising number of philosophical monologues about extinction. It’s Spielbergian in structure, but not in spirit.
And that might be the point.
The Scorecard Doesn’t Lie (But It Doesn’t Matter Either)
Critics are shrugging. A “B” on CinemaScore, 6.3/10 on IMDb, and 71% on Rotten Tomatoes—none of that screams masterpiece. But it’s also not a disaster. It’s in that strange, forgiving middle ground where audiences say: “Yeah, I had fun.”
That’s the secret sauce. According to PostTrak, 86% of ticket buyers said they’d “definitely” return for a sequel. It’s not about whether Rebirth is good. It’s about whether it delivers enough—enough spectacle, enough callbacks, enough reasons to leave the house.
And for many, it does. Dinosaurs, man.
The Summer We Almost Didn’t Have
Let’s zoom out. F1, the adult-targeting counterprogramming, is hanging on with $7M this Friday—expected to crack $100M by the weekend. Not bad, not a juggernaut. And How to Train Your Dragon is quietly soaring past $210M domestic, reminding us that animation’s still the stealth MVP of 2025.
But Rebirth feels like the first film in months to dominate the cultural conversation. Not just film Twitter. Not just Letterboxd nerds. But actual dinner-table chatter.
Is it because we’re starved for blockbusters? Probably.
Is it because dinosaurs are just that evergreen? Definitely.
There’s something primal about Jurassic. It taps into both childhood wonder and adult anxiety. These creatures aren’t just relics—they’re metaphors. For power. For nature. For our relentless, stupid curiosity.
A Rebirth, Sure—But of What?
The irony here is that Rebirth isn’t really trying to reinvent anything. It’s a repackaged comfort product—designed for predictability, not provocation. But maybe that’s what the moment demands. Not brilliance. Not originality. Just something big, stupid, and fun enough to make people show up.
And they are. In droves.
So here we are: fireworks overhead, burgers on the grill, and a T-Rex back in the top spot. It feels like summer again. Or at least like a version of it we remember from before everything got so fragmented, so niche, so… algorithmic.
We needed a hit. Rebirth gave us a roar.
But what about you?
Are you showing up for the dinosaurs—or just clinging to the past?
