'Bourne Legacy' and 'Campaign' take lead from 'Dark Knight Rises'

Arriving a month after The Dark Knight Rises, The Bourne Legacy relieved the Batman film of its number one spot with a $40.2 million opening. That's off 42% from the Matt Damon-starring Bourne Ultimatum. Hollywood so frequently relaunches franchises, it's easy to put that figure in context. X-Men: First Class suffered a 53% loss when it revved up again, while The Amazing Spider-Man had better luck, performing 30% off the previous incarnation of the franchise. That means The Bourne Legacy is right in the middle. Attendees gave the movie a so-so B rating in exit polls, which is partly attributed to the abrupt ending. I was one of the people who turned to my guest and said, "That's it?" in confusion, too, so I'm actually glad that other viewers didn't buy into the sudden ride off into the sunset either. I suspect this Bourne film will yield a sequel, but I think the production team will need to work a bit harder to close up those gaps in believability.

The Campaign overperformed to place second with $27.4 million. The Will Ferrell-Zach Galifianakis political comedy earned a 67% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is on the high side for Ferrell's comedies. His best-rated movies top out in the 70-80% range, and he's no stranger to the other side of the ratings spectrum either. THR reports that the comedy broadened its base beyond the typical under-25s that go for R-rated laughs. In Boston (Mitt Romney's home base) and Washington D.C., the feature performed well on Saturday, a time that usually sees drop-offs for this genre. The North Carolina-set comedy also played well in the South and the Midwest.

Hope Springs finished fourth with $15.6 million over the weekend, for a five-day total of $20 million. That's actually the same figure earned by Meryl Streep's 2009 feature Julie & Julia, which ended up earning just under $100 million. The audience was two-thirds female, with 69% of ticket buyers over the age of forty. Because Hope Springs isn't bringing in as broad of an audience, most doubt it will reach the same total as Julia & Julia, but the older moviegoers should ensure the film plays over a long period, since this demographic doesn't focus as much on seeing movies opening day.

Star/writer/director Julie Delpy's follow up to 2 Days in Paris, 2 Days in New York, averaged $13,500 per screen in two locations. Fantasy romance Ruby Sparks passed the $1 million mark by earning $453,000 in 261 locations.

Nitro Circus: The Movie totaled $1.1 million over the weekend and $2.1 million since it opened on Wednesday. At $1,100 per screen, the average theatre totals aren't so high. Could the movie have done better on fewer screens?

With just two weekends before Labor Day, when the box office takes a dive, studios are throwing in all their final summer films. On Wednesday, Disney releases the sentimental pic The Odd Life of Timothy Green. On Friday, The Expendables 2 will vie for the action-focused male audience, stop-motion animated Paranorman will attempt to scare adults and kids alike, and the late Whitney Houston will make her final cinematic appearance in Sparkle.

'Bourne Legacy' challenges 'Dark Knight Rises'

There's no Matt Damon in the fourth Bourne film, The Bourne Legacy (3,746 theatres), but that won't stop the Universal picture from earning somewhere over $40 million this weekend. Since The Dark Knight Rises earned $35 million last week, and will drop even further, it's pretty much a guarantee that Legacy will end up on top. Although there were a fair number of head-shaking moments in the action-heavy feature, I think the casting of Jeremy Renner was one choice that wasn't a miss. FJI critic Daniel Eagan, however, felt the plot is mainly smoke-and-mirrors and characterization was weak, explaining that the fourth film is "missing the layers and nuances of earlier episodes. Cross [Renner] isn't out to expose Outcome or avenge a loss, he's just a junkie after drugs." Younger males are the biggest supporters of the film, but they'll be choosing between this PG-13 film and R-rated The Campaign, meaning younger teens really have no choice.

Starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as two bumbling political candidates, The Campaign (3,205 theatres) "has enough sheer silliness to score a modest hit," according to critic Kevin Lally. However, he felt that this "hit-or-miss affair that could have been so much more incisive and satisfying with a sharper, more focused screenplay." Undemanding fans in search of a laugh will probably cut the comedy some slack as it "leap[s] arbitrarily from one zany setup to another." Warner Bros. has modest expectations for the release, with a number in the mid-teens expected.

My vote for a sleeper hit, Hope Springs (2,361 theatres) is on track to either slowly build or flop. It debuted to just $2.3 million on Wednesday, half of last year's (admittedly very different) The Help, which also opened mid-week. Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones star as empty-nesters who seek the help of a psychologist (Steve Carell) to save their marriage and sex life. The "pitch-perfect chemistry" of the stars made critic Shirley Sealy a fan, and she predicts that "viewers who can relax and go with the shenanigans in this delightful and insightful movie may come away with a new understanding of what intimacy is all about."

Nitro Circus: The Movie also opened Wednesday in 800 theatres, though the distributor Arc Entertainment hasn't yet released figures from opening day. In this Jackass takeoff, participants have even a greater likelihood of being killed, according to critic David Guzman, but somehow "it takes itself too seriously to have the same joy that 'Jackass' has. You probably wouldn't think that'd be a problem in a movie that shows somebody riding a tricycle into a flaming loop-de-loop, but there you go." While this type of content attracts plenty of followers, low name recognition will likely hurt the stunt movie's box office, despite added grosses thanks to the 3D format.

The most notable specialty release this week is Spike Lee's Red Hook Summer (4 theatres), a "highly flawed" drama that's "downright embarrassing," according to Chris Barsanti.

On Monday we'll see if The Bourne Legacy lived up to its box-office expectations, if The Campaign managed to wrangle away young males from Legacy, and if Hope Springs built up some momentum after its so-so opening.

'Bourne Legacy' trailer shows a Jeremy Renner you don't want to mess with

Although $1 billion proves me otherwise, I never warmed to the Bourne series. It felt so--sanitized--with none of the swagger of a Bond spy thriller or the gritty realism of a French Connection. It's true that Jason Bourne was an amnesiac, which could make someone a bit bland. That's pretty much how Matt Damon, who I like in almost any other context, played him. Jeremy Renner, the star of The Bourne Legacy, takes his character, who is a product of the same program, in an entirely new direction. He's angry.

The opening scene of the trailer, released today, shows him beat up and looking not downtrodden, but pissed off. It's in this moment that he agrees to become part of the "program." In later scenes, his foes appear to be sincerely frightened of him. It's like he's an animal who's been let loose from his cage.  The trailer, which uses some of that moody brass that became so popular with Inception, showcases Renner's flashiest spy skills. He runs down a corridor, pursued by security, then halts in his tracks and whacks the guy behind him. It's like he decided running wasn't worth the effort. He also uses a fire extinguisher to create some kind of air pellet, and appears to have his hand in blowing up a cabin and possibly using a sniper bullet to fell a small plane. I like that there's some weapons creativity along with a more emotive hero.

 

It's great to see Renner, who proved himself in The Hurt Locker, land himself a starring role in one of the most profitable action-spy franchises out there. I'll also give a brief nod to Edward Norton, who plays the enemy so, so well. The Bourne Legacy looks like it will inject the franchise with some real spunk. Count me in when it releases on August 3, 2012.