The last two Jurassic World movies, Fallen Kingdom and Dominion, actually cost twice their estimated budgets. One of Universal's most valuable IPs, the Jurassic Park franchise began back in 1993 with Steven Spielberg's masterpiece, which was followed by the 1995 sequel The Lost World. The original trilogy fizzled out with 2001's Jurassic Park III. In 2015, director Colin Trevorrow came along and revived the dormant dino-fueled franchise with Jurassic World, a massive box office success that spawned a sequel trilogy with 2018's Fallen Kingdom and 2022's Dominion.

Now, some recent filings by Universal reveal just how much the studio spent on the last two Jurassic World movies. According to Jurassic World Dominion budget was much smaller at $328.6 million, though still nearly double its estimated budget of $185 million. The last two Jurassic World movies cost a combined total of $844.7 million, more than double their estimated budget.

Jurassic World 2 & 3 Still Made Big Profits Despite Their Budgets

T-Rex from Jurassic World Dominion with a big pile of money in front

Despite their budgets being much bigger than initially estimated, the last two Jurassic World movies still managed to make big profits for Universal due to their box office returns. Fallen Kingdom's budget puts it right behind the most expensive movie of all time, Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($533.2 million), though it proved to be worth it by grossing $1.3 billion at the box office. By making more than double its massive production budget at the box office, Fallen Kingdom generated a $218.4 million profit for the studio.

Dominion's budget was ballooned by the COVID-19 pandemic, which required the cast to be quarantined for five months in hotel rooms that cost more than $600 per night. The movie was also released during a time when audiences were still leery of returning to theaters, but by ing the $1 billion mark at the box office, it turned an even bigger $235.5 million profit. Despite their big budgets, Fallen Kingdom and Dominion still managed to make monster profits for Universal, which is why after the Jurassic World trilogy, the franchise will find a way to continue.

Source: Forbes