logo
What To Expect During Universal Epic Universe's Grand Opening

What To Expect During Universal Epic Universe's Grand Opening

Thrill Geek20-05-2025

The moment thrill seekers and theme park enthusiasts from around the world have been waiting for is almost here: Universal Epic Universe, Universal Orlando Resort's groundbreaking new theme park, officially opens this Thursday, May 22. One of the most immersive and innovative theme parks ever created, Epic Universe transports guests to five imaginative worlds filled with extraordinary adventures: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, SUPER NINTENDO WORLD, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, Dark Universe and Celestial Park.
To celebrate this historic occasion, guests can virtually join the festivities and get a glimpse into some of the exciting activities happening this week via two live streams on UniversalOrlando.com:
Wednesday, May 21 from 6 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Epic Universe Grand Opening Nighttime Celebration Event
Guests can tune in and get a glimpse of this exclusive VIP nighttime event happening on the eve of the park's public grand opening. Viewers will see celebrity and special guest arrivals on the Celestial Carpet, first-ever footage of Epic Universe, interviews with some of the team who've helped bring the park to life, and more. And it all culminates with a spectacular moment to commemorate the park's debut.
Thursday, May 22, beginning at 7:30 a.m.
Epic Universe Grand Opening Day Live Stream
Guests can tune in and watch live coverage of the excitement of opening day, including a brief celebratory moment to officially open Universal Epic Universe to the world.
For more information about the live streams and Universal Epic Universe, guests can visit www.universalorlando.com.
Clint Gamache is the owner of ThrillGeek. He started ThrillGeek to share his love of theme/amusement parks and pop culture with the world. You can find him at Halloween Horror Nights. Also, be sure to follow him on Twitter/X, Instagram @iamcg83

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Box Office: ‘How to Train Your Dragon' Rules Again as ‘Elio' Heads for Lowest Opening in Pixar History
Box Office: ‘How to Train Your Dragon' Rules Again as ‘Elio' Heads for Lowest Opening in Pixar History

Yahoo

time9 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Box Office: ‘How to Train Your Dragon' Rules Again as ‘Elio' Heads for Lowest Opening in Pixar History

Ouch. Universal's live-action How to Train Your Dragon will have no trouble staying No. 1 in its second weekend with an estimated $35.7 million despite the entry of the zombie sequel 28 Years Later and the animated Elio — which is headed for the lowest opening in the history of Pixar amid a crowded marketplace for family fare. More from The Hollywood Reporter Danny Boyle Says He Couldn't Make 'Slumdog Millionaire' Today Box Office: Danny Boyle's '28 Years Later' Bites Off $5.8M in Previews, Pixar's 'Elio' Takes in $3M James Gunn's 'Superman' Tracking for $135 Million U.S. Box Office Opening Danny Boyle's zombie sequel, from Sony, topped Friday's chart with $14 million, including $5.8 million in Thursday previews, but will be overtaken by How to Train Your Dragon, from the Universal-owned DreamWorks Animation, sometime on Saturday. A few weeks ago, 28 Years Later was tracking to open to $35 million, with more bullish pundits thinking it could come in north of $40 million. Instead, it's headed for a solid $30 million to $31 million domestic start. Similar to the family space, some are speculating that the horror marketplace may be over-saturated, led by the box office hit Final Destination: Bloodlines. 28 Years Later will still mark the biggest opening of Boyle's career and reunites the filmmaker with writer Alex Garland 25 years after 28 Days hit the big screen and became a cult classic. Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Williams and Ralph Fiennes star in what's the first installment in a planned trilogy. Reviewers have widely embraced the R-rated title, but actual moviegoers are somewhat less enthusiastic; its current audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is 67 percent, compared to a 90 percent critics' score. At the same time, it's garnering decent exit scores from leading exit-polling service PostTrak. And it earned a B CinemaScore, which is like an A grade when it comes to horror fare. Facing fierce competition from How to Train Your Dragon and fellow Disney release Lilo & Stitch, Elio took in $9 million on Friday for a projected third-place domestic opening in the $20 million to $22 million range. Elio — an original film about a young boy whose wish to travel to outer space and interact with aliens comes true — was expected to open to at least $30 million domestically. But with interest stalling in recent days, Disney insiders lowered their projections to $20 million to $25 million as Pixar braced for the worst 3-day opening in its history behind Elemental ($29.6 million) in June 2023 and its very first film, 1995's Toy Story ($29.1 million), not adjusted for inflation. Toy Story opened over Thanksgiving and amassed $39 million over the long five-day holiday weekend. In 2023, Elemental's opening was called nothing short of a debacle, yet it turned into a sleeper hit on its way to earning nearly $500 million globally. Pixar and parent company Disney, are confident that Elio will have the same sort of staying power throughout the summer when kids are sprung from school. So far, Elio is graced with a better critics score on Rotten Tomatoes than Elemental, as well as glowing PostTrak exit results and an A CinemaScore, including an A+ from kids. Pixar has been struggling to find its footing in a world where original animated stories don't open to the heights they once did — think north of $70 million — in the post-pandemic world. And during the pandemic years, then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek decided to send three Pixar titles straight to Disney+ domestically, including Turning Red, Luca and the Oscar-winning Soul, a decision rivals said taught families to wait to watch a film at home. (All three were considered streaming hits.) But Pixar and Disney reversed course and are once again committed to telling original theatrical stories, mixed in with known IP, such as last year's blockbuster and record-shattering Inside Out 2, the top-grossing pic of 2024, the top ever title for Pixar and the top animated of all time with more than $1.69 billion in worldwide ticket sales, not adjusted for inflation. (As fate would have it, Inside Out 2 opened on the same June weekend a year ago.) The live-action Lilo & Stitch remains a force to be reckoned with in its fifth weekend, and could earn as much as $9 million to $10 million domestically for a fourth-place finish. Also, now in its fifth weekend, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning continues to show staying power and is expected to round out the top five with $7 million. A24's specialty romantic drama Materialists continues to do well, and is expected come in sixth domestically with an estimated $5.5 million to $6 million. Numbers will be updated Sunday morning. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Wes Anderson's Movies Ranked From Worst to Best 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT

Box Office: Danny Boyle's ‘28 Years Later' Bites Off $5.8M in Previews, Pixar's ‘Elio' Takes in $3M
Box Office: Danny Boyle's ‘28 Years Later' Bites Off $5.8M in Previews, Pixar's ‘Elio' Takes in $3M

Yahoo

time13 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Box Office: Danny Boyle's ‘28 Years Later' Bites Off $5.8M in Previews, Pixar's ‘Elio' Takes in $3M

Universal' How to Train Your Dragon won the Juneteenth holiday box office race on Thursday with $9.7 million in ticket sales as it heads into its second weekend with an early domestic haul of nearly $125 million. The live-action remake of DreamWorks Animation's celebrated 2010 animated film is confident it will stay atop the chart in its sophomore outing despite the entry of two new summer event pics, Danny Boyle's 28 Years Later and Pixar's Elio, both of which took advantage of the holiday by starting previews early in the day. (How to Train Your Dragon has a huge advantage in playing in Imax cinemas, and is eying bringing in another $35 million domestically this weekend.) More from The Hollywood Reporter Danny Boyle Says He Couldn't Make 'Slumdog Millionaire' Today James Gunn's 'Superman' Tracking for $135 Million U.S. Box Office Opening '28 Years Later': What the Critics Are Saying Boyle's zombie sequel, from Sony, is reporting a preview gross of $5.8 million, enough to place second on Thursday — at least unofficially (previews grosses are ultimately folded into the opening-day gross, or in this instance, Friday's haul). Sony is suggesting a weekend opening the $28 million to $30 million range, while tracking shows Boyle's film coming in at $30 million or more. So far, however, 28 Years Later, isn't going over so well with audiences despite glowing reviews. Presently, the Rotten Tomatoes critics' score is 92 percent, while the audience score is only 69 percent. 28 Years Later — the first in a planned trilogy — reunites Boyle with writer Alex Garland 25 years after 28 Days hit big screen and became a cult classic. Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Williams and Ralph Fiennes star in the pic, which is set nearly three decades after the events of the first film. Elio — an original film about a young boy whose wish to travel to outer space and interact with aliens comes true — earned $3 million from Thursday previews and select special access Wednesday screenings. Tracking showed the animated film opening to $30 million in North America, although it is now eying an opening in the $20 million to $23 million. That means Pixar is braced for the movie suffering the worst three-day opening ever for the storied animation studio behind Elemental ($29.6 million) in June 2023 and its very first film, 1995's Toy Story ($29.1 million), not adjusted for inflation. (Toy Story opened over Thanksgiving and amassed $39 million over the long five-day holiday weekend.) At the time, Elemental's opening was called nothing short of a debacle, yet it turned into sleeper hit on its way to earning nearly $500 million globally. Pixar and parent company Disney are confident that Elio will have the same sort of staying power throughout the summer when kids are sprung from school. So far, Elio is graced with a better critics score on Rotten Tomatoes than Elemental. There's not yet an audience score on RT. Pixar has been struggling to find its footing in a world where original animated stories don't open to the heights they once did — think north of $70 million — in the post-pandemic world. And during the pandemic years, then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek decided to send three Pixar titles straight to Disney+ domestically, including Turning Red, Luca and the Oscar-winning Soul, a decision rivals said taught families to wait to watch a film at home. (All three were considered streaming hits.) But Pixar and Disney reversed course and are once again committed to telling original theatrical stories, mixed in with known IP, such as last year's blockbuster and record-shattering Inside Out 2, the top-grossing pic of 2024, the top ever title for Pixar and the top animated of all time with more than $1.69 billion in worldwide ticket sales, not adjusted for inflation. June 20, 2:31 p.m.: Updated with the latest box office estimates. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Wes Anderson's Movies Ranked From Worst to Best 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT

Weekend Box Office: ‘Dragon' Slaying '28 Years Later' And ‘Elio'
Weekend Box Office: ‘Dragon' Slaying '28 Years Later' And ‘Elio'

Forbes

timea day ago

  • Forbes

Weekend Box Office: ‘Dragon' Slaying '28 Years Later' And ‘Elio'

Mason Thames in "How to Train Your Dragon." How to Train Your Dragon is projected to top the domestic box office again ahead of newcomers 28 Days Later and Elio. The live-action version of the 2010 animated hit How to Train Your Dragon is projected by Deadline to earn $35.2 million in its second-weekend frame from 4,373 theaters, which is below the trade publication's forecast of $40 million earlier this week. If Deadline's projection holds, it will up Universal Pictures' How to Train Your Dragon's domestic tally to $158.6 million through Sunday. Meanwhile, director Danny Boyle's zombie thriller 28 Years Later is projected by Deadline to gross $28 million to $30 million from 3,444 theaters through Sunday, which is in line with the trade's projections earlier this week. The projected weekend domestic tally is on the low end, however, of Box Office Pro's long-range tracking for 28 Years Later, which on June 7 was forecasting a $30 million to $40 million opening. Released by Sony Pictures Entertainment, 28 Years Later — which stars Ralph Fiennes, Jodie Comer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson — had a production budget of $60 million before prints and advertising, Deadline reported. A scene from "Elio." 'Elio' Tops Projections But Has A Lot Of Ground To Make Up Disney and Pixar's animated sci-fi adventure Elio is projected by Deadline to earn $22 million to $24 million from 3,750 million in its opening weekend frame, which is ahead of the trade's $20 million-plus forecast from earlier this week. Still, an opening weekend tally of $24 million domestically falls far short of Box Office Pro's long-range tracking forecast from May 31, which pegged the film to open in the $35 million to $45 million range. Elio a lot of ground to make up in the long term, since the film cost $150 million before its marketing spend, Deadline noted. By contrast, Disney's Pixar's Inside Out 2 opened with $154.2 million from 4,440 North American theaters a little over a year ago. There's also one other newcomer this week — Bride Hard — though it's not opening nearly as wide as 28 Years Later or Elio. Directed by Con Air and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider helmer Simon West, Rebel Wilson and Anna Camp's action comedy Bride Hard is debuting in 2,000 theaters domestically. Bride Hard is the product of Magenta Light Studios, which distributed last summer's indie serial killer thriller Strange Darling. Note: This box office report will be updated throughout the weekend with the most current numbers as they become available. The final numbers for this weekend's box office will be released on Monday.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store