'Bourne' and 'Bad Moms' open big at the box office while 'Trek' flails
Jason Bourne is the top box office earner for the weekend, with the Matt Damon-led sequel amassing an estimated $60 million in domestic ticket sales.
That, plus Universal's reported $50.1 million in foreign sales, puts the cumulative box office of the Damon-led Bourne movies -- Jason Bourne makes it four -- over $1 billion.
The series already hit the $1 billion mark after 2012's The Bourne Legacy, a sort-of-spin-off starring Jeremy Renner as another agent from the same program that spawned Bourne. The 2016 revival brings back Damon, whose presence surely helped bolster the movie's box office take against middling critical reception.
You May Also Like
Vying for the second and third positions in the weekend box office race, we have a study in contrasts. On one side is Star Trek Beyond, currently at #2 with an estimated $24 million, and on the other is Bad Moms, a close #3 with $23.4 million.
While Trek's second weekend is enough to bring it past $100 million in domestic ticket sales, it's still a 59-percent drop from the movie's $59.3 million opening. Don't shed a tear for Paramount -- the studio will be fine and Trek will live on -- but Beyond doesn't appear to have the legs of a blockbuster hit.
Bad Moms could well ascend to the #2 spot in the weekend box office race, but the R-rated comedy is already in a good place. Its estimated $23.4 million opening already exceeds the $20 million it cost to make the movie.
Bad Moms is a strong example of counter-programming, with the female-centric comedy offering audiences an alternative to the testosterone-driven action of Bourne and spectacle-heavy sci-fi fantasy of Trek.
It doesn't hurt that Bad Moms brings the talent. An ensemble that includes Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn is propelled by a script and direction from Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, the comedy-writing duo behind The Hangover.
Audiences approve. While the "63% fresh" Rotten Tomatoes grade for Bad Moms could be better, STX Entertainment points out that the movie's "A" from CinemaScore is the first for an R-rated comedy since The Hangover.
Topics Film
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
