'Jason Bourne' tops box office – how big of a summer winner is it?

The newest 'Bourne' film starring Matt Damon and directed by Paul Greengrass came in at No. 1 at the box office this past weekend, grossing $60 million. 

Jason Bourne proved last weekend that he still has plenty of fans, with the first new "Bourne" movie in nine years starring Matt Damon and directed by Paul Greengrass coming in first at the box office.

“Jason Bourne” took in $60 million at the box office, a gross that allowed the movie to place first. “Star Trek Beyond,” the newest film in the “Trek” franchise and which was in its second weekend, placed second, grossing $24 million.

The new comedy “Bad Moms,” which stars Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn, came in third, grossing more than $23 million. 

Meanwhile, the hit animated movie “The Secret Life of Pets,” which opened in early July, placed fourth, taking in more than $18 million, while the horror movie “Lights Out,” which like “Trek” was in its second weekend, came in fifth, grossing more than $10 million. 

How does the opening weekend for “Bourne” compare to other summer hits this season?

“Bourne” comes in with almost the same gross as “Trek” when it opened, with “Trek” having grossed $59.6 million in late July, and ahead of the comedy “Ghostbusters,” with that movie having taken in $46 million in its first weekend. 

All these movies were far behind some of the season’s biggest hits, with the animated sequel “Finding Dory” having grossed more than $136 million in its opening weekend and the Marvel movie “Captain America: Civil War” having taken in more than $181 million in its own first weekend. 

As for how the summer movie season compares so far with past summers, this past weekend saw the box office take in more money than the equivalent weekend last year, with the box office grosses being up by almost 30 percent, according to Associated Press writer Lindsey Bahr. Industry experts are predicting that will continue next weekend when the DC Comics film “Suicide Squad” debuts. 

Soon the question will be whether upcoming movies like “Suicide Squad” and “Pete’s Dragon” will boost the box office. Near the end of July, Variety writers Brent Lang and James Rainey wrote, “’The BFG’ is only the latest high-profile casualty in a summer that’s seen a slew of big-budget domestic bombs. Indeed, red ink has spilled out from such misses as ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass,’ ‘Warcraft,’ ‘The Legend of Tarzan,’ and ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.’ ” 

Yet Paul Dergarabedian of comScore told the AP that the opening for "Bourne" represents an end-of-July/August increase.

“This has been a summer with some of the biggest ups and downs that I've ever seen," Mr. Dergarabedian said. "This is the late summer push that we've all been hoping for.”