The Dark Knight Rises Forces Universal to Delay The Bourne Legacy

Universal Pictures announced earlier today that The Bourne Legacy--the fourth installment of the blockbuster franchise and the first to star The Avengers' Jeremy Renner--will not meet its planned August 3 release date, says Deadline. The film will be released on August 10 instead. Universal said that they wanted to take advantage of the Summer Olympics on NBC as an opportunity to promote the film and that, further, they wanted to keep clear of The Dark Knight Rises and Total Recall. Universal owns NBC and the two frequently cross-promote major releases. The movie underwent a week of reshoots back in June, and while rumors have been floating around for a while that there are those inside of Universal who worry about the future box office prospects of the Bourne franchise without Matt Damon, they also claim that neither quality nor the reshoots have anything to do with delaying the release. Regarding the week of reshoots that concluded on June 14, the studio told Deadline that the second unit director was merely overseeing "two days of pickups. There was one shot that we needed to get. It was a beat. It was nothing." That same second unit director--Dan Bradley, who also serves as the stunt coordinator--occupied those roles as well on the series' previous installment, 2007's The Bourne Ultimatum. Universal's official statement, as provided by Deadline, is below.

"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."