Jason Bourne assassinates competition at North American box office

Jason Bourne has taken out the competition at the North American box office with a $60 million (£45.3 million) debut.
The action thriller, starring Matt Damon, scores the second-highest opening for the Bourne franchise since the actor’s last outing as the titular former CIA assassin, The Bourne Ultimatum, in 2007.
Jason Bourne easily outran last week’s (24Jul16) most popular film, Star Trek Beyond, which slips to second place with a $24 million (£18.1 million) take. The haul helps the movie surpass the $100 million (£75.5 million) milestone in the North American market, taking its total to $105.7 million (£79.8 million).
The sci-fi blockbuster narrowly outpaces Mila Kunis and Christina Applegate’s new comedy, Bad Moms, which opens in third place with a strong $23.4 million (£17.7 million).
Animated family movie The Secret Life Of Pets and supernatural horror Lights Out round out the new top five in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Jason Bourne reunites Damon with filmmaker Paul Greengrass after previously working together on both The Bourne Supremacy in 2004 and The Bourne Ultimatum.
The action man recently revealed the demand from fans inspired him to return to the Bourne franchise after quizzing him about a comeback for years.
“I’ve certainly made a lot of movies that nobody went to see, so when you have a loyal audience that’s asking for something, at a certain point we (he and Greengrass) looked at each other and said, ‘Let’s get off our high horse and do it,'” Damon told U.S. breakfast show Today.
Alicia Vikander also features in Jason Bourne, and Matt is full of praise for his new Oscar-winning co-star.
“I just think of these once-in-a-generation actresses who kind of explode onto the scene and what strikes me about her is I can’t see where her limits are,” he gushed to People.com.
“There’s been six or seven (recent) performances and they’re all really different and they’re all going in different places and I don’t see the boundaries yet. I’m really excited to see what she does next.”