By Jeff Rosz | February 20th, 2013  THR ran an interesting Q&A with Universal chairman Adam Fogelson that is enlightening to say the least. While the information he provided was pretty much of the ‘we already knew that variety,’ there was a few things we previously never heard that are worth the quick mention, so let’s get into it.
First off, Fogelson commented on the surprise success of Identity Thief which is now at $77 million after two weekends. He kind of caught us off guard though because we were not expecting a sequel, yet that is apparently an option. Universal is said to be hot on the idea of re-teaming Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy for another go at it although the takeaway should be less literal. This may more likely lead to another Bateman-McCarthy feature down the road and not exactly an Identity Thief Part II. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | September 13th, 2012  File this one under ‘not a shocker.’ NBCUniversal had the dubious honor of trying to woo investors at the Media, Communication, and Tech conference in LA this week and CEO Steve Burke was forced to update us on the company’s future plans. In doing so, he basically confirmed the sequel to Ted is in the works (a no-brainer considering director Seth MacFarlane has voiced support of such a feature) as well as a follow-up to the Jeremy Renner-starrer The Bourne Legacy.
It was the latter of which that might surprise some who were watching the box office reports for the most recent Bourne movie. As of right now, the movie has only hauled in $180 million worldwide on a $125 million production budget which is far from guaranteed profit and less than half of what the film’s direct predecessor achieved. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | August 29th, 2012  Since the Aurora shootings, I suppose I could have easily been one of the 20% or so that questioned the safety of going to a theater. Several unrelated events have occurred in the past month that displayed questionable judgment by moviegoers worried for their own safety, so that definitely did not help my conscious memory of The Dark Knight Rises tragedy subside even though probability was greatly in my favor.
Nonetheless, covering film and television for this blog is more than a job. It is also a hobby. That said, I still went to a large number of nationwide August openings as Hollywood put out a long line of actioners (and a comedy) that seemed to target people exactly like me–someone who wants a little beyond late summer television. The movies I compare today is a list comprised of Total Recall, The Bourne Legacy, The Campaign, The Expendables, Lawless, and Premium Rush. Hit the jump for my order to see if you agree with my personal rankings. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | August 19th, 2012  The official studio estimates are now out for the box office weekend ending August 19, 2012 which gives us something beyond what we saw on Friday. For the most part, it would appear that the movies each stayed on course. The Expendables 2 won the weekend easily and the other new arrivals threw in some modest returns.
The Expendables 2 is perhaps the biggest story as it shows a contraction over the film’s predecessor despite glowing reviews. This Simon West-directed effort found only $28.8 million, down from $34.8 million two years prior suggesting the low grade of the franchise launcher played a big factor in these results. What also might have hurt was that The Bourne Legacy opened the weekend prior. That film banked another $17 million, bringing its total to nearly $70 million. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | August 13th, 2012  This week was the season finale of Spoilers as the Kevin Smith-backed show ended its first run on The Bourne Legacy. Most of you who saw the movie will not exactly be shocked by the comments. Essentially, people did not hate it, but they did have a few problems with it including how it was very slow-moving by franchise standards. There are glimmers of hope that the audience mentions; however, they pretty much concede those are few and far between resulting in the first dud of the series. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | August 12th, 2012  The studio estimates have come in and it is official: Jeremy Renner has delivered the goods as The Bourne Legacy debuted over $40 million. While this is a bit behind its immediate predecessors, the gimmick and leading men were both changed which had many suspecting an entry closer to $30 million. However, the last two Matt Damon-led installments of the series debuted north of $50 million, creating an aura of disappointment.
Given that this was Tony Gilroy’s directorial debut for Bourne (he previously only wrote them) in combination with the circumstances mentioned, not achieving such a feat seemed like an inevitability especially in light of the Aurora theater shootings last month–an event that is being blamed for a 10-20% contraction in overall box office revenue. It might also be worth mentioning that the competition was rather tough because right now there are currently three PG-13 big-budget actioners at the box office. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | August 11th, 2012  Numbers are already being revised down from those early box office estimates that hit the web yesterday as Friday’s results show a much bleaker picture for America’s top movie: The Bourne Legacy. The fourth installment of the Bourne saga hit theaters yesterday and it definitely looked like a sure fire bet to breach $40 million for the weekend. Now, Hollywood is not so sure as its Friday take came in at $14 million as opposed to the $18 million that the industry initially anticipated.
While that is still good enough for number one, it is going to make a $45+ million weekend nearly impossible baring some sort of miracle. As to what exact happened, nobody knows for sure even though speculation has the Olympics possibly impacting these figures once primetime hit. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | August 10th, 2012 Early matinee numbers on Friday are rarely worth mentioning, but with today’s seemingly low-tracking Bourne Legacy opening it would appear there is a reason to take note. Hollywood’s estimates of a $30-40 million opening weekend look to be a tad conservative from what we are seeing in the data so far. Fans of the Bourne series are flocking to the latest installment despite the loss of its leading man, showing a pace of $45+ million for its first three days of release.
Part of the pessimism the industry had going into the weekend was because this was not just a new face taking over. It was also the fact that the franchise’s new star Jeremy Renner had been largely untested before today. Whenever he was in big blockbuster features, the actor had another shoulder to lean on be it Tom Cruise or a rag tag group of superheroes. Furthermore, there was a new premise to buy into that included the acceptance of ‘additional programs’ outside of Treadstone which took center stage with the Matt Damon trilogy. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | August 9th, 2012  Surprise, surprise, people are unhappy with The Bourne Legacy. This was seen coming a mile away with a gimmick that seemed like a complete Hollywood cash-in, but what might be shocking about this whole thing is that people are not seeing it that way. They actually like the concept aside from the fact that it walks all over the original trilogy. What reviewers are not digging is the ‘less action, more talk’ approach from director Tony Gilroy.
Many are saying that while there is action, it is clunky and almost akin to problems that Christopher Nolan had with those sequences in The Dark Knight Rises. In other words, it does not ruin the movie; however, much more is left to be desired because the alternative is more of dramatic thriller than the Bourne audiences have come to know and love. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | July 28th, 2012  Edward Norton made an appearance on Jimmy Fallon last night to promote The Bourne Legacy. In the Tony Gilroy-directed film, the Fight Club star plays the spy master in what the actor calls a whole level above the Matt Damon-lead trilogy. Comparing Damon’s part in the franchise to the littlest Russian doll, Norton makes it a point to mention that The Bourne Legacy goes a lot bigger.
Beyond talking about the movie, the actor also discussed Crowd Rise–a social media platform he started for charities in the vein of Kickstarter. He also briefly mentioned Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom before playing a game of bubble soccer with Jimmy Fallon and Olympic greats Chris Mullin and Paul Hamm. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | July 28th, 2012 Jeremy Renner took to The Tonight Show last night to talk about The Bourne Legacy–the first post-Damon Bourne film. In the actioner, the actor plays Aaron Cross who is product of a whole different government program. That actually turns out to be mentioned briefly in Friday’s interview as Renner explains that in this fictional world there exists a whole host of different programs and not just one. In other worlds, it is like the Marvel Universe without the superheroes.
While on the show, the Hurt Locker star also explained his not-so-posh roots in the industry and Jay tried to embarrass him by airing the actor’s decade-old Aquafina commercial. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | July 25th, 2012 With The Bourne Legacy dropping into theaters in a few weeks time, Jeremy Renner took to Jimmy Kimmel Live to promote his first starring role in a major action film. Before this, the actor was relegating to gigs of the supporting variety that often saw the actor steal the show as evidenced by his performances in The Town and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.
That said, we care very much what the two-time Oscar nominee has to say about taking over Matt Damon’s action series in the role of different character, Aaron Cross. He did not say anything already know, but he did lay down the setup pretty nicely for anyone not informed about the franchise revamp. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | July 20th, 2012  Rachel Weisz has a new film to promote via The Bourne Legacy and the first stop was on The Tonight Show. For those unfamiliar with the project, the franchise revisit casts the actress as Marta, a scientist who is the sole survivor of a division that the government wants wiped out. Obviously at some point she meets up with Jeremy Renner’s Aaron Cross who is now the series’ central character. Hit the jump for the interview where the actress talks about initially changing her name at the start of her career, her new car, and The Bourne Legacy.
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By Jeff Rosz | July 19th, 2012 There is a brand new clip out tonight for The Bourne Legacy and while it does not tell us anything new (much like yesterday’s clip,) it does offer us a little more of classic Bourne in the sense that the lead character and a girl he is with is getting chased. This is probably a direct extension of the scene showed just the other day that had the two on foot against a similar backdrop.
For those unfamiliar with the story, you are in the same boat as everyone else as details remain scarce, but here is what we do know. Jeremy Renner’s Aaron Cross is a former soldier who had his chromosomes tweaked for enhanced abilities and now he is on the run with Rachel Weisz’s Marta who may or may not be one of the people who did it to him. Either way, it looks like the CIA wants both of them gone. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | July 18th, 2012 There is not a whole lot be shown about the upcoming Tony Gilroy take on the Bourne series, but that might be a good thing. The franchise’s best moments often come in the form of surprises, so we certainly are not sweating that we know next to nothing about Jeremy Renner’s Aaron Cross besides from the fact he has a weird chromosome mutation.
Today gives viewers the first clip of The Bourne Legacy which predictably features a whole lot of running followed by Cross somehow saving the day. This should go a long way in proving to the series’ fans that while the main character has changed, the flow will largely stay the same. Continue Reading
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