According to Deadline Universal has taken the decision to push The Bourne Legacy‘s release from August 3rd to August 10th. A number of reasons are given, but the main one is that Universal expects The Dark Knight Rises to perform similar to The Avengers, and wants to get out of the way.
Here’s Universal’s explanation:
“Just as The Avengers demonstrated marketplace sustainability that well outpaced traditional patterns earlier this summer, the industry expects a similar trajectory for The Dark Knight Rises. Moving one week further from its release will give The Bourne Legacy an even greater opportunity to maximize its opening box office potential. Moving to August 10 will also allow us to extend valuable promotion for the film across all NBCUniversal platforms during the Olympics, which will dominate television and digital audiences beginning July 27. We are excited about this new chapter in our Bourne franchise and confident that August 10 is the right date for our film and for our industry as a whole.”
Ever since it became apparent that The Bourne Legacy and Total Recall would be hitting on the same day people have been wondering which one would move first, as they are both aimed at the same audience. Seems Universal finally budged (something studios rarely like to do against competition), but it’s for reasons that make sense. If they want to give Jeremy Renner a decent shot with the franchise they need to avoid any major competition.
Bourne series writer Tony Gilroy has taken the director’s chair for The Bourne Legacy, which tells the story of a new operative (Renner) in the wake of Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne. The movie also stars Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Oscar Isaac, David Strathairn, and Joan Allen.
