Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass have reunited once more on latest instalment to the Bourne franchise, Jason Bourne. This action packed film is certainly one to watch as it is already well on its way to becoming the biggest Bourne film the franchise has produced.
Everyone’s favourite former CIA assassin dominated the box office over the weekend as it stormed into 46 international markets. The film grossed $22.8M, logging the biggest ever opening day abroad for the franchise. The international success followed over the weekend as it recorded a further $28M. Combined with the U.S opening of roughly $60M, the film totalled a staggering $110M in the box office worldwide.
After a nine year hiatus, Matt Damon has returned to the franchise in full force, so it’s no surprise the film has reached No. 1 spots in 28 of its 46 international markets, making it the No.1 film worldwide. The film is yet to reach China (August 23), Mexico (August 26) and Russia (September 1), making it a likely contender to become the franchise’s biggest film.
Jason Bourne would need to surpass the $215M grossed offshore from the first instalment The Bourne Ultimatum in order to take international domination. This is however a very real possibility as the film follows The Bourne Legacy, the franchises least successful chapter. The film, which was minus one Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass, grossed $164M internationally and ultimately bested the domestic market as it grossed a franchise low of $113M. This was the first time for the franchise where the international market surpassed the domestic market, subsequent of China’s astounding $34.2M. The franchise has gained a large following in China since the previous instalment, so it’s highly likely that this will be the second time the international market dominates as the film makes its way to China in the coming weeks.
Jason Bourne does face the potential threat of the highly anticipated Warner Bros Suicide Squad, which will debut in the cinemas next week and is estimated to gross north of $100M at its opening weekend. The saving grace for the franchise will hopefully be the film’s older audience. Regardless, with a further 20 territories still awaiting Jason Bourne, the film is off to good start.
Despite the film’s box office triumph, the film has fallen short of critical acclamation with mixed reviews from critics and a disappointing score of 57% on Rotten Tomatoes. This makes it the second lowest scoring film from the series (after Legacy).
Critical reviews aside, the latest instalment puts the Bourne franchise over the billion-dollar mark world-wide, making it nothing short of a success.
