China Box Office: 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' Roars With $36M on Opening Day

The Universal dinosaur tentpole is on track for one of Hollywood's biggest opening weekends in the Middle Kingdom this year.


Universal's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom stomped into China on Friday, opening to a hefty $36 million, according to early estimates from local box-office tracker EntGroup.


The muscular start puts the dinosaur tentpole on track for one of the biggest opening weekends by a Hollywood film this year. It won't match Avengers: Infinity War's record-breaking $191 million opening frame, but it will easily top Black Panther's $65 million opening and Ready Player One's $61.6 million debut.


The first Jurassic World film earned $229 million in China in 2015, the third-largest performance by a Hollywood film that year, behind only Furious 7 ($391 million) and Avengers: Age of Ultron ($240 million).


Directed by Spanish filmmaker J.A. Bayona (The Impossible), Fallen Kingdom once again co-stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, with franchise newcomers James Cromwell, Ted Levine, Justice Smith, Geraldine Chaplin, Daniella Pineda and Toby Jones rounding out the cast.


The story follows Pratt and Howard's characters as they rush to help rescue the dinosaurs on the abandoned island of Isla Nublar after a volcano erupts. But the duo soon uncover a menacing conspiracy when the evacuation leads to a secret dino-zoo on the mainland of America.


Frank Marshall and Pat Crowley produce, with Steven Spielberg and Colin Trevorrow — who helmed Jurassic World — executive producing.


Fallen Kingdom has just one week to itself in China before Disney and Pixar's The Incredibles 2 debuts on June 22.