‘Bourne’ bests Batman in the US

LOS ANGELES, United States of America – “The Bourne Legacy,” the latest installment in the popular action series, dethroned the new Batman film to take the top spot in the North American box office, industry figures showed Monday, August 13.

The 4th Bourne thriller — starring Jeremy Renner as secret agent Aaron Cross threatened by his employers, and not Matt Damon as Jason Bourne — raked in US$38.1-M in its opening weekend, movie tracker Exhibitor Relations said.

Another new release, the political spoof “The Campaign” starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, brought in US$26.6-M — good enough for second place in the weekend rankings.

“The Dark Knight Rises,” the final installment of the Batman trilogy directed by Christopher Nolan, fell to 3rd place with US$19-M, after topping the chart each week since it opened last month.

The film, starring Christian Bale, has already pulled in nearly US$389.6-M in domestic box office sales, despite the mass shooting at an opening night screening in Colorado that left 12 dead and 58 wounded.

A new romantic comedy starring Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones, “Hope Springs,” about a married couple trying to get back their spark, came in 4th place with US$14.7-M.

In 5th place, science-fiction action remake “Total Recall,” with US$8.01-M in ticket sales, narrowly beat out teen comedy “Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days” at US$8-M.

“Ice Age: Continental Drift,” the 4th installment of a popular animated series, took in US$6.4-M for 7th place — about double the earnings of raunchy comedy “Ted” starring Mark Wahlberg, in 8th place at US$3.2-M.

Rounding out the top 10 were dance flick “Step Up: Revolution” at US$2.9-M, and “The Watch” starring Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn as part of a neighborhood watch team fighting off an alien invasion, at US$2.2-M. – Agence France-Presse