Audiences will have to wait one more week for the new Bourne. Universal has pushed back the release of “The Bourne Legacy,” starring Jeremy Renner, from August 3 to August 10.
The move avoids a direct showdown between “Bourne” and Sony’s “Total Recall” starring Colin Farrell, and also gives “Bourne” an extra week away from the inevitable tsunami of “The Dark Knight Rises,” opening July 20.
Universal issued a statement explaining the date change and citing expectations that “Dark Knight” will be as dominant a box office force as “The Avengers” was in early May. The studio also cited the opportunity for extra “Bourne” promotion during the summer Olympics airing July 27-August 12 on NBCUniversal networks.
“Bourne Legacy” is the first film in the franchise without Matt Damon. It’s also the first directed by Tony Gilroy, who worked on the scripts of all previous “Bourne” films but has only directed “Michael Clayton” and “Duplicity.” (Not a bad resume to be sure, but neither quite as pricey or presumably action-packed as “Bourne.”)
Currently scheduled to contend with “Bourne” on August 10 are the Will Ferrell/Zach Galifianakis comedy “The Campaign” and the Meryl Streep/Steve Carell/Tommy Lee Jones comedy “Hope Springs.” Lionsgate’s “The Expendables 2” brings more action to the marketplace a week later.