The Weekend Forecast: Welcome Back to the Park

In which I predict that big winners (and losers) at the box office this weekend.

It should really come as a surprise to nobody at this point that Jurassic World is set to be the big box office winner over this weekend.  It has absolutely nothing new running against it and, as the latest in a long line of successful - albeit increasingly blase - action movies, it has a generationally loyal following that's incredibly eager to take another tour of Jurassic Park.

It's benefiting from what can best be described as Avengers syndrome.  Nobody wants to compete against it, so it pretty much has full reign over movie-goers for the weekend.  At worst, it will have to compete with non-factors like broadened releases for movies like Love & Mercy, which were never going to bring in the crowds to any significant degree.

And while I will have my review of the film up on Monday, let it suffice for now that Jurassic World is nothing short of a must-see.  I saw it in an absolutely packed theater last night and liked it least of the group I was with, and I still thought that it was awesome!  It's easily the best film in the franchise since the first movie, and even gives that one a good run for its money.

By now, the series understands what its money-shots are.  While it does dabble in dinosaur breeds that are obscure and difficult to pronounce, it keeps the focus on the classics: Raptors and T-Rexes.  And while there is a badass monster cooked up in a lab with bits and pieces of all the best dinosaurs - basically the Cell of Jurassic Park - it never fully supplants the supremacy of the "originals" (such as they are).  It only took them three decades and four movies to do it, but Universal finally figured out why the original was so great to begin with.

So what movie are you planning on watching in theaters this weekend?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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