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Edwin Davies: Reagan's absolutely right that there is a pretty big difference between the Bourne and Spidey reboots. Whilst Spider-Man 3 burned up a lot of public goodwill towards that series and wound up the least successful of Raimi's trilogy, The Bourne Ultimatum was the exact opposite: it was the most financially successful, it was as critically acclaimed as the first two, and it was popular with audiences, working as a suitable capper to a great trilogy. This drop-off, to me, represents a general nervousness on the part of fans of the series to commit to the new version until they know it will be worth it. As such, I get the feeling that word-of-mouth is going to be crucial to the ultimate success of The Bourne Legacy, much as it was for the first film back in 2002, especially since, even though they went for a new, probably cheaper actor, the film cost more than any of the original films did. That two-thirds showed up anyway is a testament to the strength of the Bourne name, but a name only goes so far: the film itself will have to determine whether this was a worthwhile reboot or not.

Felix Quinonez: The opening actually exceeded my expectations but it's going to have to have great legs just to match its budget and that's even before we factor in advertising costs. Also the "B" cinemascore is not very encouraging. I'm sure that Universal was expecting a drop off box office wise so I'm surprised that they didn't scale back on the budget. Of course there's the overseas market to consider but if Renner isn't exactly a big draw here, that's even more so overseas. I think the opening sounds nice but I'd say the verdict is still out on whether or not this was a successful franchise reboot.

Shalimar Sahota: Kinda falls in line with expectations to me. No way was this going to reach the heights of The Bourne Ultimatum (the tagline reeks of desperation), but for a sideshow with a new character, I'd say it's a decent result. Though I'm a little surprised at how much Universal spent on this risk. I feel that the issue with this new iteration is that it lacks the whole "Who is Jason Bourne?" angle. Renner's new character Aaron Cross is not suffering from amnesia, he doesn't need to remember anything, nor is he uncovering some deep hidden secret. Stripped to the core, the film is essentially just a long chase film, though admittedly a well done one. Also as awful as it sounds, keeping Bourne in the title for The Bourne Legacy (even though he's not really in it) was a good and somewhat necessary move.

David Mumpower: In terms of revenue analysis, this is right in line with my opening weekend expectations, falling a bit short with actuals of $38.1 million rather than the original $40 million studio estimate. I have always maintained that the overall box office of the movie, particularly the overseas gross, will provide the final determination for its viability. With most titles, I believe the first three days provides the cursory amount of data needed to create long term projections. With a reboot such as this, I believe that Felix has touched upon the key with his mention of the mediocre B Cinemascore. That score reflects apathy toward the title rather than satisfaction. I realize that we have been trained to believe that a B is above average. For Cinemascores, this is not the case. Anything below a B+ is worrisome.

Reagen mentions that this situation is different from Spider-Man due to the size gap between the target audiences. He is absolutely correct in this regard. The Amazing Spider-Man is a massive disappointment by earning more than any Bourne movie ever has in North America. The flip side of this, however, is more important. Spider-Man remains a beloved character in pop culture independent of any one movie's performance just as Batman survived the abominations of Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin and the Catwoman movie. The Bourne franchise has been predicated upon impeccable quality. The Bourne Identity became the top DVD of 2003 due to the movie's excellence. This created the buzz for The Bourne Supremacy and the quality of that title enhanced the opening weekend of The Bourne Ultimatum. This $38.1 million result is in part a sign of respect consumers have for Bourne as a brand. A mediocre movie damages that brand in a way that The Amazing Spider-Man could not harm Spider-Man as a character. I want to see further results before I finalize my opinion here. From what I have seen thus far, The Bourne Legacy will earn plenty enough money worldwide to justify its existence but Bourne (Fast) Five is in some trouble.

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