'Jason Bourne', 'Bad Moms' and Your Parent's Blockbusters

The early summer months of blockbuster movies and franchise continuations is slowing down, and it’s time to give parents a little fun of their own. The two big new releases this week,Jason Bourne and Bad Moms both did very well their first week, and with an audience that skewed older than the theater goers for the other summer films.

Jason Bourne was the big winner its first week, smashing both the competition and records. In a summer full of narratives about how franchise sequels and reboots are underperforming, Jason Bourne is easily the most successful franchise continuation of the bunch. The film debuted with a $60 million opening from 4,026 theaters. A high opening gross which also surpassed Jeremy Renner’s The Bourne Legacy and its $38.1 million opening. In terms of Bourne films, Jason Bourne is the second biggest opening for the franchise behind 2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum.

After regaining his memories, ex-CIA Jason Bourne goes on another rampage of revenge and destruction. This time Matt Damon faces off against big names like Alicia Vikander, Tommy Lee Jones, and Vincent Cassel. Damon continues to be an international star as the film also performed exceptionally well in global markets, especially in South Korea and United Kingdoms. The global opening easily put the film at a $110.1 million global gross.

The second big new film this week was the R-rated comedy, Bad Moms. Starring Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn as overworked mothers who overthrow the shackles of domesticity to go on a wild bender. The film was relatively inexpensive to produce and barely came in third behind last week’s Star Trek Beyond.

What’s interesting about both Jason Bourne and Bad Moms is that while both films skewed heavily towards their expected audiences - men made up 55 percent of Jason Bourne’s audience, while women made up 80 percent for Bad Moms - both films had audiences comprised largely of the over-35 crowd.

It puts the two films in stark contrast with the final new release of the week, Lionsgate’s Nerve. A thriller starring Dave Franco and Emma Roberts as participants in a dangerous game of Truth-or-Dare, the film is expected to make 15 million over its extended five-day release (the film released on a Wednesday). Nerve’s 15 million budget makes this a fine opening for the film however.

Finally, Lights Out continues to be the successful horror film in the summer with $10.8 million take on its second week, coming in fifth place behind Illumination’s The Secret Life of Pets.