User blog:Ceauntay/Weekend Box Office Wrap Up: August 12, 2012

The Bourne Legacy will rule the box office chart, grossing an estimated $40 million over the weekend. The film finds itself in an odd position – having lost its main character (and star Matt Damon), pitching itself as more of a side-quel, than a sequel.

Damon has a proven box office track record, while The Bourne Legacy’s Jeremy Renner doesn’t, despite having starred in hits like Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and The Avengers. Do average moviegoers even know his name? Having said that, The Bourne Legacy’s opening gross is above that of franchise starter, The Bourne Identity. That film opened to $27 million in 2002, topping out at $121 million. Its sequel, The Bourne Supremacy debuted to $52 million, reaching a final tally of $176 million, while 2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum opened to a massive $69 million, attaining a final box office take of more than $227 million. At this point it’s difficult to see how The Bourne Legacy (read our review) will play out at the box office, it carries a $125 million price tag, so it will need to gross more than $100 million domestic, and make good money at the foreign box office if they want the series to continue with Renner. Then again, they can always bring back Matt Damon… The runner-up spot this week will go to political comedy The Campaign (read our review). The Will Ferrell/Zach Galifianakis team-up (formally called Rivals) should gross $27.4 million over the weekend, a number which puts it at the lower-end of Ferrell’s comedy efforts. Political comedies are always difficult to gauge, especially in an election year, but it’s safe to assume that the film won’t be a massive hit on the international circuit. Mega-hit The Dark Knight Rises dropped to third place, grossing an estimated $19.5 million, raising its cume to just over $390 million. It’s a fantastic number, but its final figure will fall below The Dark Knight’s $533 million gross. Globally, the film is on course to bank more than $1 billion. Meryl Streep’s latest summer counter programmer, Hope Springs should bank over $15.6 million – raising its gross to over $20 million following a mid-week debut. It could potentially come near $100 million by the end of its run. Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days' looks like it might secure $8.2 million over the weekend, a number which brings its total to $30 million. It’s on course to be the lowest grossing film in the franchise – it would appear that the Dog Days have indeed ended for the Wimpy Kid. Total Recall looks set to gross just $8.1 million on its second weekend. That would give the Colin Farrell starrer a $44 million total – it looks like this remake is going to be recalled from theaters soon. Ice Age 4: Continental Drift should raise its cume to over $144 million, after scoring another $6.7 million.

iCarly: The Sequel continues to stay on its strong legs passing the $70 million mark, after collecting $6.5 million. Ted is still going strong, raising its cume to just under $210 million – after grossing $3.2 million. Step Up Revolution should dance away with $2.8 million, bringing its total to $30 million – about $3 million less than its production budget. Comedy bomb ''The Watch continues to go un-watched, grossing $2.2 million for a $31 million total, a number which (considering its stars) it should have scored on its opening weekend. The Amazing Spider-Man also grossed $2.2 million and upped its gross to $255 million. That’s it for now. See you at the movies.