Box Office: Matt Damon's 'Jason Bourne' Shoots Down $4.2 Million on Thursday

By Dave McNary
Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - Universal's "Jason Bourne" has opened with a solid $4.2 million on Thursday night.

The actioner screened at 2,928 locations in North America.

Matt Damon's fourth "Bourne" movie is expected to dominate the weekend with about $50 million at 4,025 theaters. He's returning to the signature role as a former CIA assassin for the first time since "The Bourne Ultimatum," which launched with $69.3 million in 2007.

Paul Greengrass directs "Jason Bourne," which also stars Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel, Julia Stiles, and Riz Ahmed. Greengrass also directed "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Bourne Ultimatum."

Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" opened with $55.5 million over the same weekend last year. "The Bourne Legacy," starring Jeremy Renner, debuted with $38 million in 2012.

Universal will also release "Jason Bourne" in 42 international markets over the weekend.

STX's raunchy comedy "Bad Moms" is eyeing a $22 million launch at 3,215 sites, a strong opening for a film costing an economical $20 million to produce. Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, and Christina Applegate lead the cast, while "The Hangover" team of Jon Lucas and Scott Moore wrote and directed the film.

Last weekend's champ, "Star Trek Beyond," will likely drop about 50 percent in its sophomore round, picking up roughly $30 million at 3,928 sites. That means the 13th chapter in the long-running series will wind up the weekend with about $115 million domestically in its first 10 days.

Lionsgate's "Nerve" debuted with a respectable $3.8 million at 2,538 U.S. locations on Wednesday -- indicating that it will come in above forecasts of $12 million to $15 million over its first five days in theaters.

"Nerve" stars Emma Roberts and Dave Franco in a cautionary tale about the dangers of cybergaming. It received an A- CinemaScore overall and an A from those moviegoers under 25.

"Nerve" is directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, and written by Jessica Sharzer, based on Jeanne Ryan's novel of the same name. Juliette Lewis also stars.

07/29/2016 10:39