Tag: The Bourne Supremacy

Staff Pick: The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

April 23, 2023 / John Fever

Matt Damon returns as Jason Bourne in this sequel to the 2002 film “The Bourne Identity.” Paul Greengrass takes over directing duties in this installment and doesn’t miss a beat.

The story picks up two years after the events of “The Bourne Identity.” Jason Bourne and Marie Kreutz (Franka Potente) are living a peaceful life in hiding in Goa, India. However, their tranquility is shattered when Bourne is framed for the assassination of a CIA officer during a covert operation in Berlin, an operation he had no part in. As a result, the CIA, led by Deputy Director Pamela Landy (Joan Allen), believes Bourne has gone rogue and must be taken down.

Bourne is driven to find out who is behind the setup and why they are targeting him. In the process, he uncovers more about his past as a CIA assassin and the Operation Treadstone program. Bourne’s quest takes him across Europe, from Berlin to Moscow, as he evades capture and confronts the people responsible for framing him.

Brian Cox reprises his role as Ward Abbott, the high-ranking CIA official who played a crucial role in the creation and management of Operation Treadstone. He is determined to cover up his involvement in Treadstone and protect his career, and throughout the film, he tries to maintain control over the situation and prevent the exposure of Treadstone’s illegal activities. Julia Stiles also returns as Nicky.

Actors, Actresses, Directors, Movies

Brian Cox Doug Liman Franka Potente Joan Allen Julia Stiles Matt Damon Paul Greengrass The Bourne Supremacy

Box Office Recap: New Releases Take Down ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

August 14, 2012 / Nate Kreichman

After three weeks at the top of the charts, “The Dark Knight Rises” fell to third place with just under $19 million after being beaten by two new releases this weekend. In its opening weekend, “The Bourne Legacy” grossed just over $38 million domestically. That figure is certainly nothing to sneeze at. Sure, “The Dark Knight Rises” made nearly that amount ($35.737 million) last week, but then we’re talking about the movie that had the third biggest opening weekend of all-time with nearly $161 million.

As I predicted in my Box Office Preview, “The Bourne Legacy” did break the pattern of each “Bourne” film being more successful than the last. But that’s to be expected in a third sequel, or is it a spin-off/reboot? I really don’t know what to call this thing. What I do know is that despite sticking Jeremy Renner in Matt Damon’s place, “Legacy’s” $38.1 million debut fell in between the series’ first film, “The Bourne Identity” ($27.1 million), and the second, “Supremacy” ($52.5 million), and dropped 45 percent off “Ultimatum” ($69.2 million), the last entry with Damon in the lead.

In second place with $26.588 million was the new political comedy “The Campaign,” which starred Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. Although it’s not exactly a terrifically common genre, that is the highest opening mark for a movie centered around a political campaign according to Box Office Mojo.

The weekend’s final new release, “Hope Springs,” opened in fourth place with $14.65 million. The film, which stars Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones, is definitely targeting an older audience than most, so while it won’t have any flashy single weekend numbers, I expect it to slowly chug along in much the same way “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” did.

Here are the results for this weekend’s top 10 at the box office:

Title/Weeks in release/Theater count, Studio/Three-day weekend total/Cume

1. The Bourne Legacy, 1/3,745, Universal, $38.142 million.
2. The Campaign, 1/3,205, Warner Bros., $26.588 million.
3. The Dark Knight Rises, 4/3,690, Warner Bros., $18.979 million, $389.588 million.
4. Hope Springs, 1/2,361, Sony, $14.65 million.
5. Total Recall, 2/3,601, Sony, $8.013 million, $44.101 million.
6. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, 2/3,398, Fox, $8.002 million, $30.356 million.
7. Ice Age: Continental Drift, 5/3,102, Fox, $6.38 million, $143.694 million.
8. Ted, 7/2,208, Universal, $3.223 million, $209.848 million.
9. Step Up Revolution, 3/1,898, Summit, $2.941 million, $30.256 million.
10. The Watch, 3/2,461, Fox, $2.221 million, $31.396 million.

Movies

Box Office Recap Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days Hope Springs Ice Age: Continental Drift Step Up Revolution Ted The Bourne Identity The Bourne Legacy The Bourne Supremacy The Bourne Ultimatum The Campaign The Dark Knight Rises The Watch Total Recall Will Ferrell Zach Galifianakis

Box Office Preview: ‘Bourne’ (sans Damon), ‘The Campaign,’ and ‘Hope Springs’

August 10, 2012 / Nate Kreichman

The Bourne Legacy

After the first three “Bourne” movies grossed a combined $945 million worldwide, Universal Studios wasn’t going to let something as “petty” as the series’ star, Matt Damon, walking away stop the cash from flowing in. Even though “The Bourne Legacy” will likely break an impressive pattern—that each of the trilogy’s installments was more successful than the last in terms of both opening and cumulative grosses (“The Bourne Identity” debuted to $27.1 million and had a domestic total gross of nearly $122 million, “Supremacy” made $52.5 million in its opening weekend, winding up with $176 million, while “Ultimatum” opened to $69.3 million and had $227 million to its name when things were all said and done)—the studio can still expect to make a pretty penny. Plus, given that “The Dark Knight Rises” was last week’s top earner with just shy of $36 million in its third week, Universal can expect to own the nation’s number one movie, as “Legacy” will have no problem clearing $30 million over its first three days at the box office.

Anyway, let’s talk about the film itself, shall we? With Damon gone, writer/director Tony Gilroy, who also wrote the screenplays for the first three “Bourne” movies, had to come up with some way to introduce a new main character. As we find out from the trailer, “There was never just one… Jason Bourne was the tip of the iceberg.” Enter Jeremy Renner (“The Hurt Locker,” “The Avengers“) as Aaron Cross, who’s essentially another Jason Bourne.

Movies

American Reunion Box Office Preview Dan Akroyd Edward Norton Hope Springs Jason Sudeikis Jeremy Renner John Lithgow Matt Damon Men in Black 3 Meryl Streep Rachel Weisz Steve Carell The Amazing Spider-Man The Avengers The Boune Ultimatum The Bourne Identity The Bourne Legacy The Bourne Supremacy The Campaign The Dark Knight Rises The Hurt Locker Tommy Lee Jones Tony Gilroy Will Ferrell Zach Galfianakis

“Flipper” discs debut with The Bourne Trilogy

January 18, 2010 / John Paulsen

One of the problems that people have with the adoption of a new format (most recently, Blu-ray) is that the format in question isn’t universal, sometimes even within a single household. For example, a family might have a Blu-ray player in the living room, but still have DVD players elsewhere in the house (or in the minivan). Universal Studios Home Entertainment has addressed this problem by releasing dual-format discs that have a Blu-ray version of the movie on one side and a DVD version on the other, allowing consumers to use the disc anywhere they can play Blu-ray or DVD. Consumers that haven’t yet adopted the Blu-ray format can buy these discs knowing that their collection will be ready when they eventually do. It’s an ingenious idea for those in the process of switching over to Blu-ray.

The so-called “flipper” discs debut with the Jason Bourne series: “The Bourne Identity,” “The Bourne Supremacy,” and (the not available for review) “The Bourne Ultimatum.” [Read the Bullz-Eye review of the trilogy.]

This should go without saying, but the picture quality of the Blu-ray version is unparalleled. When watched in 1080p, the films look about as good as they can possibly look, at least at this point in time. For example, in one of the Zurich scenes in “The Bourne Identity,” little details like falling snow really jump out.

“The Bourne Identity” features a load of special features, including U-Control (allowing the viewer to examine character dossiers, location analyses and spy gadgets while watching the movie), a Bourne card strategy game, BD-Live (allowing BR and PS3 users chat with friends and family while watching the film), deleted and extended scenes, an alternate opening and ending, along with a series of featurettes: “The Bourne Mastermind: Robert Ludlum,” an interview with Tony Gilroy about the challenges of adapting Ludlum’s book for the silver screen, interviews with Matt Damon and Franka Potente, an interview with a UCLA psychologist about the Bourne’s amnesia, an interview with CIA liaison officer Chase Brandon about the real-world making of a super spy, a look into the making of a fight sequence, and feature commentary with director Doug Liman.

“The Bourne Supremacy” bonus features include U-Control (picture in picture, Bourne dossier, Bourne orientation), BD-Live, deleted scenes (including an alternate ending), and featurettes about the casting of the principal characters, how Paul Greengrass was chosen as director, the demolition of a suburban home in Munich, on location in Berlin, Moscow and Goa (India), Damon’s fight training, the Moscow chase scene, the bridge chase scene, Josh Powell and the film’s score, a profile on Robert Ludlum, and a psychological diagnosis of Jason Bourne.

“The Bourne Ultimatum” bonus features also include U-Control, BD-Live and deleted scenes, as well as featurettes about the film’s exotic locations (Berlin, Paris, London, Madrid and Tangier), the Tangier rooftop chase scene, fight training with Matt Damon and co-star Joey Ansah, Damon’s training and the shooting of the New York chase scene, and feature commentary with director Paul Greengrass.

Click to buy “The Bourne Identity”
Click to buy “The Bourne Supremacy”
Click to buy “The Bourne Ultimatum”

External Entertainment, External Movie DVDs, External Movies, Movie DVD Quicktakes, Movie DVDs, Movies, Reviews

dual Blu-ray DVD discs flipper discs Headlines The Bourne Identity The Bourne Supremacy The Bourne Ultimatum

From Toronto to Hogsmeade, Metropolis, and the vid store

September 15, 2009 / Bob Westal

Wake up. It’s been a busy day in movie world.

* Plenty of festival happenings up are in the offing up in Toronto, the most high profile of which is the famously award-savvy Weinstein Company’s pick, for a reported $1-2 million, of “A Single Man.” This is a sort of film that would be strictly art-house fare, and low profile art-house fare at that, if it weren’t also potential Oscar fare. From fashion designer-turned director Tom Ford, it’s a drama about a college professor (Colin Firth) dealing with the death of his lover over the course of a single day in 1960s Los Angeles. The film also stars Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode (Adrian Veidt in “Watchmen“) and is based on a novel by Christopher Isherwood, the openly gay mid-century English-born writer whose stories about Wiemar-era Berlin eventually became “I Am a Camera” by playwright John van Druten, which eventually became the movie and stage musicals, “Cabaret.” Variety has the details along with more about the activity surrounding a number of other new movies.

The most interesting of these to me is “Harry Brown,” which stars Michael Caine in a film that’s going to be plugged, probably inaccurately, as the Brit “Gran Torino.” I’ve always liked Caine’s movie work, but he became something of a personal hero of mine while I was researching a Bullz-Eye look back at his career not so long ago. If you’ve never seen the original version of “Get Carter,” it’s important to know Caine is capable of being at least twice as tough as Mr. Eastwood or just about anyone else this side of Lee Marvin. That’s largely because he’s an extremely disciplined film actor and also probably partly because his pre-stardom life was, really and truly, no picnic. The man’s known grinding poverty, serious action in the Korean War, and the down and dirty truth of crime in his native London. His acting only gets better as such relatively recent films as “The Quiet American” and “Children of Men” proves. This one really has my attention.

* The new head of DC Entertainment, Diane Nelson, made her rep partly as the manager of the Harry Potter “brand” for Warner Brothers. No word on whether and/or how much she was involved, but Warners is annoucing a deal with the Universal Orlando Resort for a Harry Potter theme park. Nikki Finke has the press release and videos showing the basic layout (it’s essentially Hogsmeade, the town adjacent to Hogwarts from the books and movies), as well as plugs from Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson.