According to a new report from Forbes, the Jurassic World sequels - Fallen Kingdom and Dominion - actually cost twice their estimated budgets. This isn't a common occurrence in Hollywood and is information Universal Pictures managed to keep relatively quiet...until now.
The news comes from some recent filings by the studio that note Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom cost $516.1 million. That's nearly three times the reported production budget of $170 million, and while there are extra costs in there such as marketing, that's an insane figure.
Not quite as shocking, but still hard to believe, is the fact Jurassic World Dominion came in at $328.6 million despite its estimated $185 million budget.
As a result, the combined cost of the last two movies in the long-running franchise was a whopping $844.7 million.
You might be thinking of this as an unprecedented disaster for Universal but, believe it or not, both sequels managed to turn an impressive profit. Fallen Kingdom grossed $1.3 billion worldwide and generated a respectable $218.4 million in profit. The odds were stacked against Dominion due to the pandemic, of course, but it too managed to surpass $1 billion when all was said and done.
With a lower budget (despite five months of hotel rooms for its cast and crew during quarantine measures that cost over $600 per night each), the finale to the trilogy made a $235.5 million profit.
Taking all of this into account, we have to believe that it won't be long before Universal revisits the Jurassic franchise in theaters. There have already been some talks about where it could go next, including a post-apocalyptic setting and a lower-budgeted horror movie, but nothing has been confirmed.
Still, with the Fast & Furious franchise racing to the finish line, the studio would be wise to get cameras rolling sooner rather than later.
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