As expected, The Bourne Legacy takes the #1 spot, and earned $38.1 million, for a per-theater average of a great $10,185 from around 5,900 screens at 3,745 theaters. That was higher than what studios and analysts were expecting, even though it was much less than what The Bourne Supremacy ($52 million) and The Bourne Ultimatum ($69 million) earned on their opening weekends. But that was to be expected given the fact this is a reboot and stars Jeremy Renner, not Matt Damon. With The Expendables 2 expected to be huge next weekend, it was important for this to do better-than expected this weekend, as that film may cut its' legs short. Also possibly cutting its' sustainability chances down are mixed critical and audience reception (52% on Rotten Tomatoes, "B" CinemaScore"). The film was produced for $125 million by distributor Universal Pictures, who had originally predicted an opening weekend in the mid-30's millions.
Also debuting higher than expected in second place is the latest R-rated comedy, The Campaign. Starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, the political comedy snagged $26.6 million, for a per-theater average of a solid $8,296 from around 4,200 screens at 3,205 theaters. That marked the second-biggest debut for an R-rated comedy this summer behind Ted, which earned twice as much ($54 million). The films' relatively strong opening weekend was a bit of surprise since most similar films have bombed this summer (The Dictator, That's My Boy and most recently The Watch). But the marketing was strong enough and the starpower was also good enough to attract an audience. However, the weekend was relatively front-loaded ($10.2 million Friday VS. $9.5 million Saturday), and despite critical reception being positive, audiences gave it mixed word-of-mouth ("B-" CinemaScore), which could hurt its' chances at legs. The film was produced for around $60 million by distributor Warner Bros., and they were hoping for a debut north of $20 million.Its' run at the top spot had to end at some point. The Dark Knight Rises still continued to hold itself together even with more competition, easing 47% to $19 million. The finale of Christopher Nolan's trilogy is now trailing its' predecessor by more than $50 million, and certainly won't even come close to that movie's final gross. Still though, the movie has earned a huge $389.6 million in just four weeks of release, and is likely headed for around $450 million domestically.
Meanwhile, the final new release, romantic drama Hope Springs also got off to a great start in fourth place. Debuting to $14.65 million, the film averaged a good $6,205 from around 2,600 screens at 2,361 theaters. Since its' Wednesday start, the film is projected to have earned $20.1 million. Considering its' low release count, the number is especially impressive. Plus, with no date night choices and no choices for older women in a while, it seemed like the field was wide open for this. Produced for $30 million by distributor Columbia Pictures, it was originally expected to earn in the mid-teens for its' first five days.Total Recall suffered from competition and poor word-of-mouth, cascading 68% to $8.013 million in its' second weekend, for a 10-day tally of a terrible $44.1 million, and may not even reach $60 million. Right behind it, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days surprisingly held itself together this weekend, down 45% to $8.002 million, for a 10-day tally of a solid $30.4 million. That was the strongest second-weekend hold of the series, in which the previous movies dropped 55% or more. The threequel continues to lag behind the first two movies, but it is closing the gap.
With no new competition, Ice Age: Continental Drift posted a strong hold, easing a Top 10-best 26% to $6.4 million, for a $143.7 million gross in one month of release. The fourquel will have to compete against ParaNorman and The Odd Life of Timothy Green next weekend, but with a Labor Day boost expected, the worldwide gross is expected to hit a huge $850 million. With The Campaign serving as competition, Ted did take a hit, sliding 43% to $3.2 million, for a huge $209.8 million gross in 45 days of release.
Step-Up Revolution continued its' rapid descent out of the Top 10, with a 50% dip to $2.9 million, for a 17-day tally of an okay $30.3 million and will finish as the franchise's lowest-grossing installment. Rounding out the Top 10 is The Watch, which took a huge drop due to more competition, down 66% to $2.2 million, for a 17-day tally of a terrible $31.4 million.
Overseas, The Dark Knight Rises held onto the top spot with another $34.2 million from 58 markets, down a somewhat alarming 49% from last weekend. The threequel has earned $445 million in four weeks overseas and is set to pass The Dark Knight's $469 million total overseas gross next weekend. Ted jumped up to second place with another $20.3 million from 25 territories, pushing its' worldwide gross to past $320 million, with still 33 markets left to open. Total Recall opened in a few major territories and earned a pretty decent $18.7 million, enough for third place. Having expanded to two-thirds of all international markets, Brave came in fourth place with $17.2 million from 40 markets, bringing its' overseas tally to near $150 million and worldwide tally to $375 million. International phenomenon Ice Age: Continental Drift slid from second to fifth this weekend, earning another $16.2 million, pushing its' international tally to $620 million, making it one of only 20 movies to earn more than $600 million overseas, and one of only three animated titles to do so.
