Universal’s Jurassic World exceeded expectations at the box office around the world on its opening weekend, breaking records along the way. The film made US box office history by scoring the highest opening weekend EVER!

The Avengers had held on to the record after opening to $207.4 million in the US back in May 2012. Marvel themselves tried to best it with Iron Man 3 ($174.1 million opening) and again with Avengers: Age of Ultron ($191.2 million opening). However, it was Jurassic World that sailed ahead, with Universal reporting that the film opened to $208.8 million at the US box office on its opening weekend.

Released in the US on 12th June at 4,274 venues, the film was a dead cert for opening above $100 million. It was just a question of how high. It surprised by earning $82.8 million on Friday alone, a figure which includes $18.5 million in Thursday previews. That makes for the third best opening day at the US box office, behind Avengers: Age of Ultron ($84.4 million) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($91 million).

The potential for Jurassic World to open with over $200 million was now on the cards. Estimates showed that the film delivered, becoming only the second film to open to over $200 million at the US box office, but once actual figures came in it turned out that the dinosaurs had taken down The Avengers in the process.

Outside the US the worldwide release of Jurassic World saw the film reach #1 in 66 countries, earning $315.3 million (it is estimated to have taken £19 million in the UK and Ireland). The sale of 3D tickets are also reported to have played a crucial role here, as RealD has revealed that 65% of all international sales for the film were for 3D screenings. Combined with its huge US opening, Jurassic World set a new worldwide opening record by earning a mammoth $524.1 million… in just a single weekend. The previous record-holder was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with $483.2 million back in 2011.

This is also good news for Universal, having started the year with Fifty Shades of Grey ($569 million worldwide), they have also had success with Furious 7 ($1.5 billion worldwide) and Pitch Perfect 2 ($260 million worldwide). This summer will also see the studio release Ted 2 and Minions.

Sources: Deadline | Box Office Prophets | Box Office Mojo