The Dark Knight Rises is going to leave the box-office equivalent of a nuclear mushroom cloud in its wake when it storms into theatres on July 20th, and everyone knows it. The fact became especially hard to ignore after advanced ticket sales were met with a Super-Bowl-style fervor.
With that in mind, Universal is understandably worried about releasing their next major tentpole, The Bourne Legacy, only two weeks after The Dark Knight Rises. Just look at what happened to major releases from the month of May; in the wake of The Avengers, prospective blockbusters like Dark Shadows, Battleship and Men in Black III underperformed rather severely.
Thus, Universal has officially delayed The Bourne Legacy from its original release date of August 3rd to August 10th, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Not only will that move the film further away from the Batman juggernaut, but it will also give Universal more time for their promotional campaign, which they plan to kick into high gear during the Summer Olympics.
It seems like a perfectly sensible move. Universal has an awful lot riding on The Bourne Legacy, and while no one in the industry expects it to break the August opening record its predecessor, The Bourne Ultimatum, set, it still has the potential to be a healthy performer for the struggling studio. I’m definitely intrigued with the direction writer/director Tony Gilroy is heading in, so I wish the film all the best.
The Bourne Legacy now arrives in theatres – in glorious, flat, non-obnoxious 2D! – on August 10th, 2012.
