The Bourne Legacy Release Date Delayed a Week

There are probably some lessons for young filmmakers to be learned from the making and marketing of The Bourne Legacy.

First, the title: With three Bourne films already released, had you not known any different, you'd think this fourth one would include Jason Bourne as well. It does not. Jeremy Renner steps in as Aaron Cross, a substitute Bourne, if you will. We're sure Renner will do a fine job in the role, but why risk alienating viewers by implying this is a "Bourne" film when it's not?

Second, the title: The first three Bourne films were adapted from novels written by Robert Ludlum. He only wrote three before his death, with the subsequent books in the series written by Eric Van Lustbader. Indeed, the fourth book in the series, published in 2004 and the first credited to Lustbader, is titled The Bourne Legacy. But is this book the basis for the film? No, it is not. There are lots of words in the English language; couldn't the marketing folks have come up with a few that wouldn't cause viewers (and readers) to assume that the book and the film have some link?

And now today's news. The release of The Bourne Legacy is being bumped a week — from August 3rd to August 10th — so that it doesn't have to compete with Total Recall and, rather more interestingly, The Dark Knight Rises, which will have come out two weeks earlier. Now this may be a smart move on the part of the studio, time will tell, but if the studio doesn't think the film has what it takes to go up against these other two films, especially one that will have already been out for two weeks, are they trying to tell us something? Hmm …

Here's the studio's statement; read between the lines — or not — as you see fit … though it is interesting that no mention of Total Recall, the film with which it actually competed on August 3rd, is made:

"Just as The Avengers demonstrated marketplace sustainability that well outpaced traditional patterns earlier this summer, the industry expects a similar trajectory for The Dark Knight Rises. Moving one week further from its release will give The Bourne Legacy an even greater opportunity to maximize its opening box office potential. Moving to August 10 will also allow us to extend valuable promotion for the film across all NBCUniversal platforms during the Olympics, which will dominate television and digital audiences beginning July 27. We are excited about this new chapter in our "Bourne" franchise and confident that August 10 is the right date for our film and for our industry as a whole."