How wide will the wings of "The Dark Knight Rises" spread? Well, let's put it this way: when "The Dark Knight" opened in 2008, it was the number one movie at the box office for four straight weeks, and stayed in the top ten for 11 weeks on its way to a $533 million domestic haul that helped push it over a billion worldwide. And it's probably pretty safe to assume that Batman will dominate long and hard once again this summer.
So, likely noting that, and seeing how "The Avengers" was number one for three weeks, and is still in the top ten after eight weeks, Universal has now pushed "The Bourne Legacy" back one week to August 10th. Or rather, three weeks away from "The Dark Knight Rises" instead of two. It's a smart play and also puts 'Bourne' on a weekend where it will have a bit more room to breathe as the film faces off against two comedies: the Will Ferrell/Zack Galifianakis vehicle "The Campaign" and Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones yukking it up in "Hope Springs." They also avoid running against another action flick in Sony's "Total Recall," which is still opening on August 3rd.
It's a good strategic move from Universal who rightfully realize that there will be no stopping "The Dark Knight Rises" train. But it does mean a one week longer wait for the "The Bourne Legacy," which is a bit of a bummer. Starring Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Oscar Isaac and more, Tony Gilroy's franchise spinoff is bringing a lot to the table, so giving it the right space to play makes sense.