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‘Bourne’, ‘Star Trek’, And ‘Bad Moms’ Top The Box Office For The Back To School Weekend

By LeKesh Pettis
Published on: 08:36 PST, Jul 31, 2016

Matt Damon scored a big win in his return to the Bourne series. Topping the back-to-school weekend box office with just over $60 million, Jason Bourne proves “Matt Damon is one of the handful of actors that can actually still open a film when you put his face on a poster. And that’s rare these days,” according to a USA Today statement by Jeff Bock, a senior analyst at Exhibitor Relations.

The last time audiences saw Damon play the superspy, he lost his memory. Now, nearly a decade later, he has overcome his amnesia and brings along a strong supporting cast, including Tommy Lee Jones as CIA director, Robert Dewey, and Alicia Vikander as hacker Heather Lee. Also re-joining the series is director Paul Greengrass.

Jason Bourne is the series’ second highest opening, Variety reports. ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ had a $69.3 million debut.

Moviegoers were also treated to a different kind of mom film with an all-star cast, including Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Christina Applegate, and Jada Pinkett Smith. The R-rated Bad Moms racked in about $23.5 million — a victory, as USA Today states this exceeds the film’s $20 million budget. The weekend success was enough to put the film in the weekend’s top 3.

In an NPR interview, Kristen Bell touted that Bad Moms attracted her because of its realistic script.

“When you have a baby, everything in your DNA says, ‘I gotta do this right.’ But what should go hand-in-hand in that — and doesn’t often, or it’s not reiterated enough to women — is that ‘and it’s OK if I don’t, because I’m trying and that’s all that matters… And I realize I am the demographic, because I was going through a lot of those things, and still am, when I read it…. I have a 3-year-old and a 1 ½- year-old. And it just was such an accurate depiction of what moms feel like. It’s so brilliant that this script was written by two guys [Jon Lucas and Scott Moore] because you just can’t imagine that two guys could actually write something this true to life. But they wrote it as a love letter to their overworked wives and they kept such an open mind throughout the whole process. They just nailed it — even women’s locker room talk, because the movie is quite raunchy at times… It’s a modern, realistic portrayal of what moms go through.”

The comedy countered the Bourne opening to give female viewers something to talk about, like PTA meetings, late school drop offs, and, even dating uncircumcised males. Scoring a 63 percent on Rotten Tomatoes fresh meter by critics, and 79 percent by audience members, it is definitely a must-see.

Dropping almost 60 percent in its second week at the box office with $24 million, Star Trek Beyond made the No. 2 spot in the top 3. Although the sci-fi classic garnered good reviews, it lost some of its staying power.

In this go round, Captain Kirk, played by Chris Pine, and his Enterprise crew endure a surprise attack and have to crash-land in a foreign world. The team is forced to battle Krall (Idris Elba) and his lizard-like crew while figuring out their way home. Beyond is directed by Fast & Furious director Justin Lin.

With a total box office struggling to hit $106 million, Star Trek may not meet its $185 million budget.

The Secret Life of Pets continued its reign at the box office with $18 million, nearing $300 million for its 4 weeks on the big screen. Lights Out brought in $10 million to round out the top 5 for the week. Ice Age: Collision Course and Ghostbusters (2016) straggled behind, leaving audiences to question whether sequels will be on the horizon.

What are your thoughts on this week’s top 3, Jason Bourne, Star Trek, and Bad Moms? Two thumbs up?

[Photos via Evan Agostini/Invision & Eric Charbonneau/Invision for STX Entertainment/AP Images]

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