Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo:
Packing the series' biggest opening punch, 'The Bourne Ultimatum' dominated the weekend with an estimated $70.2 million, while holdovers saw steep declines, including 'The Simpsons'...
Pamela McClintock of Variety:
Cracking the box office code, filmmaker Paul Greengrass' "The Bourne Ultimatum" nabbed the best August opening on record, outperforming the debut of any James Bond pic as well as the previous two installments in Universal's Jason Bourne spy franchise.
"Ultimatum" drew an estimated $70 million from 3,660 locations, easily taking the weekend crown as the summer box office surge continued, turning the dog days of August into an unprecedented picnic feast. Total estimated receipts for the top 10 pics were up 35% over the same weekend last year, according to Rentrak, likely making this year's frame the best on the books and altering the industry's view of late summer's B.O. potential.
Meanwhile, the coin was flowing overseas as well, as the combined gross for the top five pics hit $147 million, up 76% from the tally of the top five during the comparable frame last year.
In another first for the film biz, DreamWorks-Paramount's "Transformers" was poised to become the fourth tentpole this summer to cross the $300 million mark.
Coming in second over the weekend was 20th Century Fox's holdover "The Simpsons Movie," which took in an estimated $25.6 million from 3,926 runs in its second frame, down 65%. Animated laffer has grossed $128.5 domestically and $315.5 million worldwide in just 10 days.
Barking up to No. 3 was Disney's "Underdog," based on the 1960s cartoon series. Family pic debuted with an estimated $12 million from 3,013 theaters, in line with previous Mouse House releases at this time of year, including "Sky High," which opened at $14 million, and "The Parent Trap," which bowed to $11.1 million.
The weekend did have its causalities. Paramount couldn't find much room on the road for goofball comedy "Hot Rod," starring "Saturday Night Life" performer Andy Samberg. Pic came in at No. 9 with an estimated $5 million from 2,607 locations. Likewise, Lionsgate couldn't rustle up much girl power for tween live-action pic "Bratz," based on the successful line of toy dolls. Movie landed at No. 10, grossing an estimated $4.3 million from 1,509 runs.
Holdovers dominated the top 10 list. New Line's "Hairspray" even sang its way past "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" to No. 5, bringing in an estimated $9.32 million from 3,115 locations in its third frame. Pic, with a cume of $79 million, stands a strong shot of crossing the $100 million mark office, a magic number for a big screen musical.
Warner Bros. romantic dramedy "No Reservations" continued to hit the counterprogramming sweet spot, coming in at No. 7 with $6.6 million from 2,425 locations. Also scoring with counterprogramming was Miramax's "Becoming Jane," the Jane Austen drama starring Anne Hathaway. Movie debuted at $1 million from 100 theaters for a per-screen average of $10,100...
Read the complete article here
Joshua Rich of Entertainment Weekly writes:
The third ''Bourne'' flick scores north of $70 mil, making it the best August opener in history...
Given Bourne's weekend success--I wonder if Damon still feels like a prostitute for doing the sequel? If he does, I'm sure that big salary he got, helps ease his conscience.
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