Weekend Box Office: Jeremy Renner Takes Down Batman

Jeremy Renner has not only replaced Christian Bale in David O. Russell’s upcoming movie about the 1970s “Abscam” FBI sting, he also bumped Bale from the top spot in the North American box office. Not that “The Bourne Legacy” is likely to set any box office records, but its $40 million-plus weekend means Universal executives can finally breathe easy about their decision to continue the Robert Ludlam-inspired series without Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne. It was also a good weekend for Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis whose film “The Campaign” will hopefully still look like a parody once November rolls around. And the success of “Hope Springs” was great news for both Meryl Streep/Tommy Lee Jones fans and all moviegoers who are NOT 14-year-old boys!

Firmly ahead of the pack at #1, “The Bourne Legacy” earned $40.2M in its first weekend (at 3,745 theaters) while the #2 film, Warner Bros.’ “The Campaign,” did better than expected with $27.4M  (at 3,205 theaters). Slipping to #3, “The Dark Knight Rises” added $19.5M (at 3,690 theaters) to its incredible domestic gross of $390.1M (after only four weeks). At #4, Sony’s “Hope Springs” brought in $15.6M (at 2,361 theaters) while last week’s “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” sequel moved to #5, with $8.2M (at 3,398 theaters).

Plummeting to #6 in its second week, “Total Recall” earned only $8.1M (at 3,601 theaters) while the #7 film, “Ice Age: Continental Drift” added $6.7M (at 3,102 theaters) to its $144M domestic gross. In its seventh week, “Ted” slipped to the #8 position, with $3.2M (at 2,208 theaters) and an impressive domestic gross of $209.9M. At #9, “Step Up Revolution” brought in $2.8M (at 1,898 theaters) while the one-time heavyweight, “The Amazing Spider-Man,” finally made it to #10 with $2.2M in ticket sales (at 1,585 theaters), neck-and-neck with “The Watch.”

Coming up next week? Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton wish really hard for a child in “The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” a nerdy boy tries to break his historic town’s curse in “ParaNorman,” and Sylvester Stallone and company explode in testosterone-fueled rage in “Expendables 2.”