14 DAY TRIAL // There can be little doubt about the kind of damage Chris Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises” will do at the box office, and Universal knows that too well. “The Bourne Legacy” has been pushed back.
TDKR will be out on July 20th, while “Bourne” was initially supposed to come out on August 3rd.
Universal believes its film will have a better fighting chance if it’s farther away from Nolan’s, so it pushed “Bourne” back a week, on August 10th.
“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,” the studio says in a statement.
“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,” Universal adds.
At least they’re being honest about the real reason for the delay.