Both “Jason Bourne” and “Bad Moms” had strong opening weekends.
Universal’s Bourne sequel, starring Matt Damon, won the weekend with $60 million from 4,026 screens.
While right on par with estimates TheWrap reported early last week, it came in significantly higher than what the studio and other prognosticators were initially expecting.
STX’s “Bad Moms” has a similar story, coming in third place with a stellar $23.4-million debut, given its $20 million production budget. Second-weekend holdover “Star Trek Beyond” came in second with $24 million.
The comedy, starring Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Christina Applegate, Kathryn Hahn and Jada Pinkett Smith, opened in 3,215 theaters.
Meanwhile, Lionsgate thriller “Nerve,” about a teenager (Emma Roberts) who becomes entangled in an online game of truth or dare, failed to make it into the top five, making $9 million from 2,583 locations during the three-day weekend.
Fourth place went to Illumination and Universal’s animated hit “The Secret Life of Pets,” earning $18.2 million in its fourth weekend. New Line’s low budget scary movie “Lights Out” made $10.8 million in its second weekend to round out the top five.
Matt Damon‘s comeback in the Bourne series is so far a lucrative move for Universal as the movie’s estimated $60 million take makes the film the second highest-grossing opening weekend of all five Bourne movies, behind 2007’s “Bourne Ultimatum,” which debuted to $69.3 million and went on to gross $227.5 million domestically and $215.4 million abroad.
With a reported budget of $120 million and an A- Cinemascore (indicating high fan anticipation), the spy thriller was positioned to do some solid business in spite of its current Rotten Tomatoes score of 57 percent.
Another indicator of its impending, not-so-covert glory: “Jason Bourne” led online ticket sales at Fandango, outpacing 2015’s “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” when that buzzy title was at the same point in its sales cycle.
Director Paul Greengrass‘ new Bourne movie was also moving the needle in social chatter earlier this week, up by roughly 8,000 from last week to 28,429 new conversations. The movie, which co-stars Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel, Julia Stiles and Riz Ahmed, amassed a total amount of 244,938 conversations leading up to its release, according to comScore’s PreAct results.
The franchise as a whole has grossed more than $1 billion worldwide.
STX comedy “Bad Moms” had a very solid opening, with opening grosses that surpassed its production budget.
It has a strong A Cinemascore, though a somewhat mixed 63 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Fandango reported earlier this week that “Bad Moms” ticket sales are outpacing previous female-led comedies “Trainwreck” and “Spy” — another good sign for the title. The movie revolves around a group of moms who decide to stop striving to be perfect and go on a wild on a self-indulgent binge to reclaim their freedom.
Plus, writer-directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore‘s movie inspired 35,648 new conversations on social media in the past week, according to comScore. (That’s more than “Bourne”!)
Despite the “chick flick” label, recent tracking showed a growing interest among males aged 17 to 34. Tracking also shows strong and growing interest among women.
“Nerve” represents some counter-programmming. Open since Wednesday, the five-day gross came in at $15.1 million, which is in line with initial estimates.
Reported to have been produced for under $20 million, the PG-13 film also stars Dave Franco and has an A- Cinemascore, indicating high fan anticipation.
With a 56 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, “Nerve” is the only movie in theaters geared toward the early teen set, specifically teen girls. And it probably doesn’t hurt that it’s about a mobile app that shares similarities with “Pokemon Go.”
The Top Five
1. “Jason Bourne” (Universal) — $60 million Week 1 ($60 million total)
2. “Star Trek Beyond” (Paramount) — $24 million in Week 2 ($105.7 million total)
3. “Bad Moms” (STX) — $23.4 million in Week 1 ($23.4 million total)
4. “The Secret Life of Pets” (Universal) — $18.2 million in Week 4 ($296.2 million total)
5. “Lights Out” (Warner Bros.) — $10.8 million in Week 2 ($42.9 million total)