It speaks –roars, rather- to the enduring power of Jurassic Park that even 22 years after Steven Spielberg’s groundbreaking special effects safari, Jurassic World easily and decisively returned the series to apex blockbuster status this weekend. That it was such an overwhelming success despite the franchise’s legacy of lesser-loved sequels makes Jurassic World’s +$500 million global box office take all the more impressive. All that remains to be seen is just how much money Jurassic World will end up hauling in with those stubby dinosaur arms.
Trading Triwizard tournaments for tricorn hats and powerful wands for powdered wigs, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell makes its American broadcast debut this Saturday. The road from print to BBC One miniseries (with a one month delay in arriving on BBC America) has been long for Strange & Norrell and its decidedly proper spin on the fantasy genre. With a zoological expedition back into the world of Harry Potter due next year, and Lev Grossman’s arch The Magicians getting its own series shortly, we’ll soon be at no loss for witchcraft and wizardry stories that skew strongly traditional or deconstructionist. All the better for Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell that the adaptation arrive now, then, when its measured and peculiar brand of wonderment isn’t at constant risk of being upstaged.
Mad Max: Fury Road may distance itself from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, but the maligned trilogy-capper has its own new sequel in Disney's Tomorrowland.
