It opened Wednesday in order to get a jumpstart on the competition, earning $15 million over its first five days and $9 million over the weekend. The film stars Dave Franco and Emma Roberts.
It scored with low-budget horror films such as “The Gift” and “The Boy,” but lost money on the thriller “The Secret in Their Eyes” and the point-of-view action film “Hardcore Henry.”Īmong newcomers, Lionsgate fielded “Nerve,” a $20 million thriller about a digital truth or dare-style game that takes a deadly turn.
So far, its early efforts have been mixed. Armed with backing from the likes of TPG, Hony Capital and Huayi Brothers, the studio has ambitions to spend as much as $1.1 billion annually on producing, marketing and self-distributing its films by 2017. STX is the brainchild of Robert Simonds, the producer of “Cheaper by the Dozen” and “The Pink Panther” films.
The comic book movie is tracking to open to as much as $125 million, establishing a new record for an August launch. That could help the picture withstand “Suicide Squad’s” opening next weekend. Grayson believes the film will continue to draw crowds in the coming weeks, because there are no other raunchy comedies with female leads on deck. “It is a terrific movie that has a lot of heart and a lot of laughs and it plays great across the board,” said Kevin Grayson, STX’s domestic distribution chief. It stars Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn as women who reject the pressure to be perfect parents, and instead indulge in hard partying and a more relaxed, Chablis-fueled approach to child-rearing. But Mann dropped out, as did Apatow, and the project migrated to STX. “Bad Moms” originally was set up at Paramount Pictures and was intended to star Leslie Mann with the actress’ husband and frequent collaborator Judd Apatow producing. Luciana Barroso and actor Matt Damon arrive for the Universal Pictures movie premiere of "Jason Bourne" at Caesars Palace hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., July 18, 2016. It also gives STX Entertainment a much needed win after its other summer release, the Civil War drama “Free State of Jones” collapsed at multiplexes. That’s a strong return on the film’s $20 million production budget. STX Entertainment’s “Bad Moms” opened to a healthy $23.4 million and a third place finish. “‘Jason Bourne’ is the perfect title for this film, because that’s who everyone wanted to see return.”Įven with Bourne’s resurgence commanding most of the attention, the weekend’s other major new wide release managed to score a respectable debut. “It proves that this is a franchise that’s still viable and that it can continue if they want to keep making them,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at ComScore. Universal spent $120 million to make the latest installment and released it in 4,026 theaters.
When adjusted for inflation, however, it trails all but “The Bourne Legacy’s” opening weekends. “Jason Bourne” marks the series’ second highest opening, behind “The Bourne Ultimatum’s” $69.3 million debut. “It’s no secret that people were anticipating a reunion of ,” said Nick Carpou, Universal’s domestic distribution chief, adding “Putting the team back together made smart business sense.” The crowds didn’t exactly flock to see this sub-Bourne, and the film grossed about $150 million less than “The Bourne Ultimatum” globally.Īs a sign of Damon’s appeal, audience surveys reveal that the actor’s presence above-the-title was the second most frequently cited reason that people turned up for “Jason Bourne.” In the interim, the studio had made an ill-conceived attempt at cinematic universe building with “The Bourne Legacy,” introducing Jeremy Renner as another amnesic ass-kicker dubbed Aaron Cross. That’s good news for Universal, which ran the risk of losing a Tiffany franchise without Damon’s involvement. What was left?īe it creative spark or big paydays, the pair were somehow lured back to the series.
He and director Paul Greengrass argued that 2007’s “The Bourne Ultimatum” had brought the character full circle by filling in him on the shadowy bureaucratic maneuvers that transformed him into a killing machine. The film marked the actor’s return to the action franchise after a nine-year hiatus, during which he repeatedly hinted that he might be done with his most popular role.