It’s challenging to put Matt Damon
into a box as an actor. He’s starred in everything from romantic comedies to dramas, fantasy epics to biopics. His first major hit was Good Will Hunting in 1997, a movie that won him and cowriter Ben Affleck the Best Original Screenplay Oscar at the Academy Awards. It was in 2002, however, that Damon ascended to a new level of movie stardom, taking on the role of amnesiac ᴀssᴀssin Jason Bourne in The Bourne Idenтιтy.
Damon reprised his role as Bourne for three sequels, but his work in the action-heavy movies extended beyond this franchise. Damon had action-forward roles in movies like Green Zone (2010), True Grit (2010), Elysium (2013), and The Martian (2016), the latter two of which mix action with science fiction. Though Damon appeared in crime thriller The Instigators last year, his last true foray into pure action was almost 10 years ago now.
Jason Bourne Is A Streaming Hit
Matt Damon’s Action Sequel Is Connecting With Audiences After A Mixed Reception
Jason Bourne is finding renewed success on streaming after its theatrical release in 2016. Directed by franchise veteran Paul Greengrᴀss, the fifth installment in the Bourne franchise sees Damon returning to his iconic action role after seemingly bidding the character farewell with 2008’s The Bourne Ultimatum. The movie, which comes after the Jeremy Renner-starring The Bourne Legacy (2012), follows Bourne as he unearths more about his past. Jason Bourne wasn’t quite as well-received as the character’s previous outings, earning mixed reviews from critics.
Now, though, new data from FlixPatrol reveals that Jason Bourne ranks as the ninth most popular movie on Max as of January 13, 2025. The movie beats Warcraft (2016), but fall short of Sons of Ecstacy (2025), The Accountant (2016), Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children (2016), and, in first place, Den of Thieves (2018). The Bourne sequel has been on Max’s top 10 list for six days so far, falling one position from eighth place. Check out the full top 10 for January 13 below:
Max Top 10 (Jan. 13, 2025) |
|
---|---|
1 |
Den of Thieves |
2 |
Juror #2 |
3 |
Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This? |
4 |
Look Into My Eyes |
5 |
The Front Room |
6 |
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children |
7 |
The Accountant |
8 |
Sons of Ecstasy |
9 |
Jason Bourne |
10 |
Warcraft |
What Jason Bourne’s Streaming Success Means For The Movie
Audiences Are Still Interested In Bourne
Grossing $415 million at the box office worldwide makes Jason Bourne a commercial success, but the movie has only a 55% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, with an audience score to match. This is a notable step down from all three of Damon’s previous Bourne movies, and it also falls just short of The Bourne Legacy. The movie, as a whole, marked a serviceable but ultimately disappointing finale to Damon’s tenure as Bourne, but its streaming success signals that there is still interest in this action franchise.
Jason Bourne was made on an estimated budget of $120 million, the second largest of the franchise behind The Bourne Legacy‘s $125 million.
Jason Bourne trending on streaming ultimately bodes well for the franchise’s future. It has been confirmed that Bourne 6 is currently in development, and Damon himself has expressed interest in returning if the script is right. There have been relatively few updates on the project since it was announced, but it evidently represents an opportunity to send Damon’s ᴀssᴀssin out on a high note after Jason Bourne failed to totally get there.
Source: FlixPatrol