"The End of Oak Street"'s Box Office Proves One Thing About Dinosaur Movies

Warner Bros. had a bright year both critically and commercially in 2025 by taking chances on original films like "Sinners" and "Weapons." The studio made similarly big bets in 2026, the latest of which is "The End of Oak Street." It was that rare original dinosaur movie unconnected to the "Jurassic Park" universe hitting theaters, and it had most of the right pieces on paper. Unfortunately, the plan didn't quite pan out.

Directed by "It Follows" filmmaker David Robert Mitchell, the film opened domestically with $21 million, landing in third place behind "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" ($71 million) and "The Odyssey" ($23.2 million). The below-expectations opening was part of a dinosaur box office showdown with "Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie" ($20.5 million). With $26 million from international markets, the film's global opening totaled $47 million, against a budget of at least $80 million.

The film is set after a mysterious cosmic event rips Oak Street out of its suburb and drops it into a distant, dinosaur-filled past. At the center of the story, the Platt family discovers that surviving this dangerous environment is only possible if they stick together. Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor lead the cast.

Despite good reviews and J.J. Abrams among its producers, the film had plenty going for it — yet it didn't translate into meaningful ticket sales, and it's expected to be recorded as a significant financial disappointment. That once again confirms that dinosaur movies unconnected to the "Jurassic" franchise are taking on a nearly impossible task at the box office.

The genre's latest disappointment

The "Jurassic Park" films had already grossed a combined $6 billion even before last year's surprise giant, "Jurassic World Rebirth" ($869 million). Since Steven Spielberg's groundbreaking 1993 film, that franchise has remained the only name that comes to mind when people think of dinosaur cinema.

Yet dinosaurs aren't intellectual property anyone owns, which makes it surprising studios don't turn to prehistoric creatures more often. You can find dozens of cheap dinosaur movies on Tubi every day, but studio-made examples are quite rare, and when they do happen, they usually don't turn out well.

You can count on one hand the number of non-"Jurassic" live-action dinosaur movies that have hit theaters in the 2020s. Adam Driver's "65" fell just short of $61 million worldwide in 2023 against its $45 million budget. Even with a solid hold, "The End of Oak Street" will struggle to reach the break-even point.

The genre's one semi-legitimate success story was last year's "Primitive War." Directed by Luke Sparke, the low-budget film set during the Vietnam War became a viral phenomenon; it made money in theaters but was more of a word-of-mouth digital hit. Even with multiple sequels on the way, it's not the kind of success major Hollywood studios will be chasing.

Why don't non-"Jurassic" dinosaur movies work?

Outside of "Jurassic Park"/"Jurassic World," the dinosaur movies that have succeeded are mostly animated, family-friendly productions. Examples include "Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie," which will make money for Paramount thanks to its low budget, or "The Land Before Time," which spawned an entire franchise of its own.

So why do standalone films struggle so much? Frankly, "Jurassic" has cornered the market. Everything else lives in its shadow and gets compared to it, for better or worse. There would seem to be more room in the subgenre, but studios still can't crack the code.

The "Jurassic World Rebirth" sequel recently lost director Gareth Edwards. It's unclear who will take the chair, but Universal has no intention of stopping this gravy train. So within a few years, the franchise will likely have a new hit on its hands — or, in the worst-case scenario, it'll produce a new "Jurassic Park III" that puts the series to sleep for a while.

In that unlikely scenario, there might be room for another dinosaur movie to enter the arena. But the bar for getting average moviegoers off the couch for a dinosaur adventure without the "Jurassic" label is clearly very high. What will it take to clear that bar? Time will tell.

"The End of Oak Street" is now playing in theaters.