Box office records continue to tumble for Jurassic World, the fourth in the series of dinosaur theme park thrillers which began with Jurassic Park. Having recently claimed the title of 2015’s most successful film so far, Jurassic World has now overtaken The Avengers to grab the number three spot in the list of all-time biggest earners.

Directed by Colin Trevorrow, and starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, Jurassic World’s global box office total has now reached $1.522bn; The Avengers finished on $1.52bn after its release in 2012. Jurassic World, however, still has some distance to go before catching the top two: Titanic ($2.19bn) and Avatar ($2.79bn).

The spectacular results would seem to have allayed the fears expressed by Trevorrow that the film’s marketing tactics may put audiences off, or at least lead them to expect a different film from that which he delivered. Trevorrow had described the inclusion of certain shots in the film’s trailers as “bananas”, but had acknowledged that “this kind of marketing has historically been able to get a lot of people into theatres”. That would appear to have been proved the case.

Prospects of a follow-up to Jurassic World now appear to be a certainty, though Trevorrow confirmed back in June that he would not be directing it, despite saying that “part of what Steven [Spielberg] asked me to do is to build a foundation that could be expanded upon.” Pratt, however, acknowledged his contract for Jurassic World meant he was obliged to return.