‘Jurassic World’ Becomes the Fastest Film to Cross $1 Billion Globally!

“Jurassic World” is poised to cross $1 billion at the global box office more quickly than any film before it.

The dinosaur blockbuster should eclipse that mark on Monday after 13 days in theaters, trumping the record set earlier this year by “Furious 7,” which took 17 days to pass that barrier. Currently, the Universal release’s worldwide total sits at $981.3 million, after topping foreign charts this weekend with a $160.5 million haul from 66 territories.

The film has shattered expectations. Going into the summer, analysts expected that the picture would be overshadowed by “Minions” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” Now, it has a chance of being the highest-grossing release of the year, potentially giving “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” a run for its money when it debuts this December.“It’s destroying box office records,” said Jeff Bock, an analyst with Exhibitor Relations. “It will be interesting to see how well it continues to perform. Can ‘Star Wars’ even compete with this film?”

The picture isn’t just a domestic smash. “Jurassic World” has done massive business in China, where it has earned $167.1 million, more than double the amount it has racked up anywhere else save for the United States.

Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out” also put up big numbers at the foreign box office, though its international rollout is more staggered than that of many summer blockbusters. The critically adored family film earned a robust $41 million from 41 territories, the biggest of which were Mexico ($8.8 million), Russia ($7.7 million) and France ($5.2 million). The Russian debut ranks as Disney’s biggest animated opening in the country, while Mexico represented the best ever kickoff for an animated film that isn’t a sequel. The film still has much of Europe left to open and won’t land in China until July 30.

Foreign audiences got an early look at “Minions,” the “Despicable Me” spinoff that is expected to be one of the summer’s biggest hits. The Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment release bowed in four international territories this week, a quartet that includes Singapore, Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia, where it generated a sizable $12.3 million in receipts.

Among milestones, Warner Bros. and New Line’s “San Andreas” crossed $400 million at the global box office, pushing the $110 million movie squarely in profitable terrain. The disaster film added $18.8 million to its $414.2 million bounty.

The rest of the top five was rounded out by “SPL II: A Time for Consequences,” the sequel to the hit 2005 Hong Kong martial arts film “SPL: Sha Po Lang,” which earned a sizable $29 million.

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The Best And Worst Super Bowl Commercials Of 2015!

Remember when Super Bowl ads were funny?

Clever commercials and an afternoon of snacks and beer were some of the only draws for people who didn’t care about the game itself.

These extra eyeballs helped inflate the Super Bowl’s viewership well beyond what it would have been as just another championship game, which in turn led to even more expensive ad spots.

The cycle should have been vicious. Instead, it’s become boring and stale.

Watching Super Bowl commercials used to be a lot of fun. Sometimes, the commercials were better than the game itself. But these days, the expensive ad budgets must have led to cuts in the creativity department.

The thrill is gone. Or the comedy, at any rate.

Super Bowl XLIX between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots was a great game—but its array of commercials were among the worst I’ve ever been unlucky enough to sit through.

There used to be some competition between advertisers. Yes, you’d get your fair share of slick car commercials and TV programming, but you’d also get a few good ones from Budweiser, Doritos, and the like. It was enough to keep you watching during the breaks, anyways.

Those days are gone. The usually funny Doritos commercials were nowhere to be seen. Instead, Doritos spent $4.5 million dollars on a 30-second spot just to make an extended ”when pigs fly” joke. Boy, nobody saw that coming. Next time you borrow humor from second-graders, at least include some potty jokes.
Lame attempts at humor weren’t even the worst of the bunch.
Bright idea of the century: Make Super Bowl ads dark and gloomy.

Nationwide’s childhood death ad was not only depressing, it was exploitative and insulting, playing on our fears in an age where parents already freak out way too much about their kids’ safety.

Actually, a lot of the ads this year were somber, including a spot for Nissan that should have been far more exciting given its race-car theme.
Victoria Secret managed to be boring in spite of its array of hot models.

Kim Kardashian was…well, look, I’m still not sure who Kim Kardashian is or why she would inspire anyone to go with T-Mobile. The ad was neither funny nor informative. It was just…Kim Kardashian.

Meanwhile, Budweiser is so far past its marketing heyday, it would probably have better luck just bringing back the “Bud—Weis—Er” frog commercials. Though maybe I’m wrong about that. Cute puppies are hard to beat. And a live-action PacMan maze is a neat idea. Okay, so Budweiser is a shadow of its former marketing self, but they’re not the worst of the bunch.
Carl’s Jr. had their trashy fast-food ad, and Jeff Bridges hummed people to sleep for SquareSpace. And the collective yawn continued.

A few rays of sunshine amid the darkness.

There were brief moments of respite at least.

Parks & Rec actor Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson) touted NASCAR after the game with a mildly funny ode. I’m not sure if it qualifies as a good ad or if I’m just a Ron Swanson fanboy. Personally, I prefer Offerman’s ode to whiskey.

TurboTax’s Boston Tea Party spot was entertaining enough—a nice alt-history look at how colonial rebels might have reacted if the British had offered them free tax returns:

I enjoyed the Minions, of course. And it was kinda funny to see Walter White again in an Esurance commercial—though perhaps the ad comes too far after Breaking Bad’send.

And the blue ribbon goes to…

My favorite spot of the entire evening—outside of a handful of decent movie trailers (Jurassic World!)—was Snickers.

The candy bar stole the show with perhaps the best ad of thegame—a clever Brady Bunch spot starring Danny Trejo and Steve Buscemi. It’s not the best Super Bowl ad I’ve ever seen, but it was funny and clever enough to rise above the rest of the pack.

So here it is, folks, the best Super Bowl ad of 2015. Feast your eyes:

For a brief moment, it was as if I were watching a Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez collaborative take on the Brady Bunch. And that made the whole thing worth it.

For 2016, I have a challenge and a plea to advertisers and the corporations who hire them: Get your game on. I dare you to just try to be funny. If you can’t, businesses should look to YouTube, crowd-sourcing and other avenues.

There are plenty of funny people out there who can sell you a pen.

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