“It’s definitely open. If there’s a story to tell, and we think people want to hear it, then who knows?” Matt Damon recently told Entertainment Weekly about the possibility of playing Jason Bourne again. And based on the opening-weekend numbers for his fourth time out playing the formerly amnesiac spy, audiences have been eager for more.
Universal‘s “Jason Bourne” opened strong, taking in $60 million. It’s the second-best opening weekend for the franchise, coming in behind the $69 million bow of “The Bourne Ultimatum,” and while the franchise has always tended to play a bit stronger domestically than abroad, times have changed in the nine years that Damon has been away. “Jason Bourne” added another $50 million from foreign ticket sales this weekend, bringing the opening global haul to $110 million. That marks a healthy return, and you can bet that if the next few weeks see the movie hold up and leg out, Universal will be doing some serious arm-twisting so they’re not waiting nearly another decade for the next installment. However, it will face considerable competition next weekend when “Suicide Squad” arrives, with the comic-book movie already poised to break some records.
After a year mostly marked by disappointing box-office results, indie house STX Entertainment finally has something to smile about. Raunchy comedy “Bad Moms” surprised many prognosticators, opening with an impressive $23 million. For comparison, that’s a few million shy of what “Bridesmaids” opened with back in 2011, before going on to earn $169 million domestic. These are different times, where movies tend to fall off much more quickly, but the positive word-of-mouth will certainly help, and there’s no doubt about it, the $20-million-budgeted comedy can already be called a success.
With many reviews calling “Nerve” essentially dumb but weirdly entertaining, the high-concept social-media thriller seemed to find its demographic, with the movie earning a five-day total of $15 million. The film only cost $20 million, so it will likely come out in the black, and I can’t imagine Lionsgate were expecting much more given that the film has two leads — Dave Franco and Emma Roberts — that have never really opened a wide-release picture on their own.
READ MORE: ‘Nerve’ Is A Gleefully Goofy, High Concept Social Media Thriller [Review]
Seeing the steepest drop in the top was “Star Trek Beyond,” which saw a -59% loss in viewership from its opening weekend to roll into second place with $24 million.
In limited release: Documentary “Gleason” scored $129,223 on 9 screens; Wall Street thriller “Equity” banked $80,729 from 4 screens; indie drama “The Land” earned $12,040 on 2 screens, while “Miss Sharon Jones!” did $12,000 in a single theater. Meanwhile, “Don’t Think Twice” continues to impress, scoring the highest per-screen average in its second week, earning $150,421 on five screens for a $30,084 PSA.
1. “Jason Bourne” — $60 million
2. “Star Trek Beyond” — $24 million ($105 mil.)
3. “Bad Moms” — $23.4 million
4. “The Secret Life Of Pets” — $18.2 million ($296.1 mil.)
5. “Lights Out” — $10.8 million ($42.8 mil.)
6. “Ice Age: Collision Course” — $10.5 million ($42.1 mil.)
7. “Ghostbusters” — $9.8 million ($106.1 mil.)
8. “Nerve” — $9 million
9. “Finding Dory” — $4.2 million ($469 mil.)
10. “The Legend Of Tarzan” — $2.4 million ($121.8 mil.)