Box Office Weekend: Matt Damon Is Bourne Again

Moviegoers had no trouble remembering “Jason Bourne” this weekend, powering the bone-rattling action franchise’s fifth entry to an estimated $60-million opening to lead the North American box office. “Nerve”, a thriller from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., made its debut in eighth place with sales of $9 million.

This is a good start for the fifth film in the series and fourth starring Matt Damon and with positive reviews it should see the film gross some impressive numbers. Tracking for Jason Bourne was pointing lower at $50 million, so it was needing a $15-17 million Friday with a $3-4 million preview. The film, which also marked the return of director Paul Greengrass to the franchise, earned $60 million over the weekend which while less than the last Bourne film starring Damon, it was $22 million more than the Matt Damon-less Bourne Legacy.

The action thriller, starring Matt Damon, scores the second-highest opening for the Bourne franchise since the actor’s last outing as the titular former Central Intelligence Agency assassin, The Bourne Ultimatum, in 2007. Jason Bourne will need $360 million worldwide to see theatrical profit, and I would be really surprised if it didn’t make that mark.

This image released by STX Productions shows, from left, Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn in a scene from, “Bad Moms”. The Paramount sequel has earned $105.7m to date.

“Jason Bourne” scored an “A-” from opening day audiences on CinemaScore and received a so-so 56 percent of recommendation rating from critics on RotenTomatoes.

Illumination and Universal’s “The Secret Life of Pets” took third place with $29.5 million.

“Lights Out”, a horror film from New Line, rounded out the top five, picking up $10.8 million to bring its total to $42.8 million after two weeks.

As for how the summer movie season compares so far with past summers, this past weekend saw the box office take in more money than the equivalent weekend a year ago, with the box office grosses being up by nearly 30 percent, according to Associated Press writer Lindsey Bahr.

For more news and updates about “Jason Bourne” Box Office, check back on this website in the next few days.